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...Two objects orbiting each other, like a lone planet around a star, can be described with just a line or two of mathematical equations. Add a third body, though, and the math becomes much harder. Because each object influences the others with its gravity, calculating a stable orbit where all three objects get along is a complex feat...More than 300 years ago, Isaac Newton wrote down his foundational laws of motion, and mathematicians have been working on solutions to the three-body problem pretty much ever since. There is no single correct answer; instead, there are many orbits that can work...

This artist’s concept shows what exoplanet K2-18 b could look like based on science data. K2-18 b, an exoplanet 8.6 times as massive as Earth, orbits the cool dwarf star K2-18 in the habitable zone and lies 120 light-years from Earth. A new investigation with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope into K2-18 b has revealed the presence of carbon-bearing molecules including methane and carbon dioxide. The abundance of methane and carbon dioxide, and shortage of ammonia, support the hypothesis that there may be a water ocean underneath a hydrogen-rich atmosphere in K2-18 b. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI),...

Astronomers have discovered a unique Jupiter-sized planet, named TOI-4860 b, orbiting a low-mass star in the Corvus constellation. This planet, enriched with heavy elements, defies traditional planet formation models. The discovery provides a chance to study the atmospheric properties of ‘Warm Jupiters’ and offers insights into the planet formation process, possibly catalyzed by an abundance of heavy elements. Scientists have identified a Jupiter-sized planet, TOI-4860 b, around a low-mass star, challenging conventional planet formation theories. An international team of researchers has discovered an unusual Jupiter-sized planet orbiting a low-mass star called TOI-4860, located in the Corvus constellation. The newly discovered...

For the second time, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has looked for and failed to find a thick atmosphere on an exoplanet in on one of the most exciting planetary systems known. Astronomers report today that there is probably no tantalizing atmosphere on the planet TRAPPIST-1 c, just as they reported months ago for its neighbour TRAPPIST-1 b.There is still a chance that some of the five other planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system might have thick atmospheres containing geologically and biologically interesting compounds such as carbon dioxide, methane or oxygen. But the two planets studied so far seem to...

A groundbreaking study from the University of Copenhagen has presented a fresh perspective on Earth’s formation, suggesting it occurred in a few million years, far quicker than the previously believed 100 million years. The research indicates that Earth was formed through the fast accumulation of small pebbles, and water’s existence is a byproduct of this formation process. This theory provides a promising outlook for the potential of habitable planets beyond our Solar System, given that water is a critical ingredient for life. Earth formed in a few million years, much quicker than previously thought, through the rapid absorption of pebbles,...

A nearby exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of a star just 4.2 light-years from Earth may be home to a vast ocean, boosting its chances of supporting life. Since its discovery, questions about the conditions at the surface of Proxima b have been swirling; the planet’s mass is just about 1.3 times that of Earth’s, and the red dwarf star it circles is similar in age to our sun. Studies over the last few years, however, have both bolstered hopes of its habitability and shot them down. Now, a new study has once again raised the possibility that Proxima...

A star-planet system with a COHERENT radio signal from an AURORA | 10:26Dr. Becky | 579K subscribers | 133K views | 13 days ago

an illustration of a planet covered in active volcanoes Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / Chris Smith / KRBwyle Astronomers have discovered an Earth-sized exoplanet they suspect is covered in volcanoes — making it a promising lead in the hunt for extraterrestrial life. Volcano planet: An international team of astronomers spotted the exoplanet, dubbed “LP 791-18 d,” using data from NASA’s retired Spitzer Space Telescope, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), and ground-based observatories. Based on their analysis, it has a radius 1.03 times that of Earth’s and a mass .9 times that of our home planet. It’s now...

'If the moons had benefited from long-term heating, then they could have maintained a thick ocean.' NASA's James Webb Space Telescope captured this shot of Uranus and six of its 27 known moons. A number of background objects, including distant galaxies, are also visible. (Image credit: SCIENCE: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI IMAGE PROCESSING: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)) The four biggest moons of Uranus may harbor salty oceans below their frozen surfaces, a new study suggests. Scientists taking a fresh look at 40-year-old data sent home by NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft say that the satellites Titania and Oberon, which orbit the farthest...

R. Hurt/K. Miller (Caltech/IPAC) =========================================================== Ask any astronaut or astronomer and they’ll tell you: Space wants to kill us. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about the extreme life threatening cold and hot temperatures, or extinction-level gravity events, or the enormous radioactive explosions, or the planets that rain lava. Pretty much everything out in the twinkling cosmos has our number. Luckily, those of us on Earth are safe from the dangers of space (well, most of us anyway). However, there are some things that we won’t ever be able to avoid—like the inevitable moment when our planet is swallowed up...

Flashing fast radio bursts...Animation of the randomness of fast radio bursts. (NRAO Outreach/Vimeo) Like gravitational waves (GWs) and gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), fast radio bursts (FRBs) are one of the most powerful and mysterious astronomical phenomena today. These transient events consist of bursts that put out more energy in a millisecond than the Sun does in three days. While most bursts last mere milliseconds, there have been rare cases where FRBs were found repeating. While astronomers are still unsure what causes them and opinions vary, dedicated observatories and international collaborations have dramatically increased the number of events available for study. A...

The beam of light coming from the telescope is then shown in deep blue entering the instrument through the pick-off mirror located at the top of the instrument and acting like a periscope. Then, a series of mirrors redirect the light toward the bottom of the instruments where a set of 4 spectroscopic modules are located. Once there, the beam of light is divided by optical elements called dichroics in 4 beams corresponding to different parts of the mid-infrared region. Each beam enters its own integral field unit; these components split and reformat the light from the whole field of...

...X-ray binaries (XRBs) are composed of a normal star or a white dwarf transferring mass onto a compact neutron star or a black hole. Based on the mass of the companion star, astronomers divide them into low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) and high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs).Discovered on October 9, 2004, by the International Gamma-Ray Astronomy Laboratory (INTEGRAL), IGR J17407−2808 (or J17407 for short) is an LMXB at a distance of some 12,400 light years away from the Earth. Although J17407 exhibited several peculiarly quick and strong flares in the past, it remained a poorly studied source...NuSTAR observations conducted by Ducci's team...

....Pluto- NASA / Unsplash Finding life on other planets might well be the holy grail of astronomy, but the hunt for suitable host planets that can sustain life is a resource-intensive task. The search for exoplanets (planets outside our Solar System) involves competing for time on Earth’s biggest telescopes – yet the hit rate of this search can be disappointingly low. In a new study published in Science, I and my international team of colleagues have combined different search techniques to discover a new giant planet. It could change the way we try to image planets in the future. Imaging...

A new paper by a Japanese researcher says that microscopic forms of alien life from other planets outside of our solar system may hitch a ride to earth on particles of space dust. According to the paper, even if these life forms don't survive the trip across the cosmos, researchers should still be able to find ancient fossils, or possibly DNA fragments from these particles of space dust, if there is life on the planets from which they come...When space bodies like comets and meteors collide with planets, they are often powerful enough to eject some of that planet's material...

An international research team led by UTSA associate professor of astrophysics Thayne Currie has made a breakthrough in accelerating the search for new planets.In a paper slated for publication April 14 in Science, Currie reports the first exoplanet jointly discovered through direct imaging and precision astrometry, a new indirect method that identifies a planet by measuring the position of the star it orbits. Data from the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii and space telescopes from the European Space Agency (ESA) were integral to the team’s discovery...By contrast, indirect planet detection methods determine a planet's existence through its effect on the star...

A “coherent” radio signal has been detected from an alien planet, suggesting it could be more likely to be habitable. The signal suggests that the planet has its own magnetic field, which is thought to be central to sustaining life on a particular world. On Earth, our magnetic field helps protect us from the high energy particles and plasma that are blasted from the Sun. As such, any alien life is likely to depend on being protected by a similar field. But until now researchers have struggled to confirm whether distant rocky planets have magnetic fields of their own, and...

While scientists know that Pluto, like Earth, flipped on its side sometime in its past, Pluto's orientation before the flip and the degree to which it reoriented itself has not been well understood. Scientists who use New Horizons data to study Pluto's geologic past hope to find clues that explain this event. Now, a group of researchers has attributed Pluto's flip to the formation of Sputnik Planitia, a 620-mile-wide (1,000 km) basin that makes up half of the iconic heart-shaped region on Pluto. Researchers previously knew that Sputnik, which is filled with nitrogen ice, played a profound role in realigning...

Built by the University of Chicago in 1897 in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, Yerkes Observatory is home to the world’s largest refracting telescope and famous astronomers like George Ellery Hale, Edwin Hubble and Carl Sagan worked and studied there. ...as newer technology emerged the Great Refractor became less relevant, and the university closed the observatory in 2018. A non-profit formed by residents in the nearby Lake Geneva area took control, and in 2020 that group, Yerkes Future Foundation, embarked on a $20 million renovation effort.... Weighing about 82 tons, the Great Refractor is the world’s largest refracting telescope. The University of...

The Tabby's Star mystery just got 15 times bigger! A recent attempt to find similar phenomena turned up 15 new candidates. But it isn't the number of candidates that is so spooky. The location of these candidates, together with other bizarre data, suggests that there may be an interstellar civilization lurking nearby.