Tagged: solar system

Our solar system may be an oddball in the universe. A new study using data from NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope shows that in most cases, exoplanets orbiting the same star have similar sizes and regular spacing between their orbits. By contrast, our own solar system...

When we go to the beach, maybe we sit under umbrellas. We wear sunscreen. After all, we’ve been burned before, literally. Being outside on a clear day involves being relentlessly bombarded with photons, the tiny packages of energy that power this planet. These little bombs...

One of the weird things about space is that things don’t always conform to what would seem like common sense. Take the Sun, for example. You’d think that the Sun’s surface would be hotter than its outer atmosphere, since, the surface is closer to the...

When you look into the night’s sky, you’d expect to see stars, the moon, an occasional meteor and, if you’re lucky, rippling curtains of light created by the impact of the sun’s energetic particles raining through our atmosphere. If you’re really lucky, you also might...

Scientists have identified a ring circling Haumea, an egg-shaped dwarf planet (relatively) near Pluto shown in this artist’s illustration. JM MADIEDO, JL ORTIZ/IAA-CSIC There’s a lot going on just outside of our solar system, planet-wise. Sure, there’s the dwarf planet Pluto lurking out there beyond...

This artist’s concept shows NASA’s InSight lander after it has deployed its instruments on the Martian surface. InSight successfully landed on our planetary neighbor on Nov. 26, 2018, executing a perfect landing. NASA/JPL-CALTECH The Martian space robot family had a new addition on Monday, Nov....

The lunar probe Chang’e-4 is the first manmade spacecraft to land successfully on the far side of the moon. CHINA NATIONAL SPACE ADMINISTRATION You can only see one side of the moon from Earth’s surface, and things have been that way for around 4 billion...

Our Solar System’s formation was triggered by a shock wave from an exploding supernova, according to one of theories. Now, a new study conducted by Carnegie’s Alan P. Boss and his team from Carnegie Institution for Science, supports the existing theory by modeling the Solar...

– Planet Nine’s days of lurking unseen in the dark depths of the outer solar system may be numbered. The hypothetical giant planet, which is thought to be about 10 times more massive than Earth, will be discovered within 16 months or so, astronomer Mike...

The mind-boggling video, made by digital artist Erik Wernquist is a vision of humanity’s expansion into the Solar System, based on scientific ideas and concepts of what our future in space might look like if it ever happens. The locations depicted in the film are...