Researchers Confirm That Three Large Asteroids Have Orbits Similar To Uranus
John P. Millis, Ph.D. for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online In 2006, Uruguayan astronomer Tabaré Gallardo provided evidence that two asteroids, Crantor and 2000 SN331, had orbital periods similar to that of the planet Uranus – roughly 84...
Latest Solar System Stories
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online The intrepid comet Lovejoy flew right into the Sun's violent atmosphere and lived to tell scientists the story and help them understand more about our local star. In December 2011, comet Lovejoy plowed into the Sun's atmosphere, withstanding temperatures that would have obliterated any man-made object. Telescope images taken of the comet's miraculous feat showed how the comet's tail was pulled about by an intense magnetic field. This...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Stars have an alluring pull on the planets that surround them, especially a class of planets known as hot Jupiters. These planets are gas giants that form farther from their stars before migrating inward and heating up. Hot Jupiters, despite their close-in orbits, are not regularly consumed by their stars, as a new study conducted with data from NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope reveals. These planets remain in fairly stable orbits...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Astronomers writing in the journal Science say they have captured an image of a comet factory around a young star. The team found a region around a young star where dust particles can grow by clumping together, giving the scientists the first clear observation of a long-standing mystery of how dust particles in disc grow to larger sizes that eventually form comets, planets and other rocky bodies. Scientists do not fully...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Astronomers said during a press conference at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society that when our Sun was in its infancy, it was active and "feisty." The team said that when the Sun was young it was growing in fits and burping out bursts of X-rays. They came to this conclusion after studying another young star in our galaxy known as TW Hydrae, which sits about 190 light-years away in the southern constellation Hydra the...
John P. Millis, Ph.D. for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online When scientists began seeking out planets outside of our solar system, they anticipated seeing systems much like our own. Small, rocky worlds orbiting a couple of astronomical units from the host star, with the gas giant planets orbiting farther out. After all, much effort had been given to explaining how a solar system such as ours would form. Only, this is not what has been found. Many solar systems are constructed with...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) is racing toward an uncomfortably close rendezvous with the Sun, according to a new series of images from the Gemini Earth Observatory. Comet ISON might present a stunning sight in the twilight sky of late November that will remain easily visible, even brilliant, into early December. Gemini’s time-sequence images span from early February through May 2013, showing the comet’s remarkable activity despite its...
Brett Smith for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Once considered to be an afterthought when it came to Saturn’s moons, scientists now believe Dione likely had an active geological history after analyzing data sent back from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. "A picture is emerging that suggests Dione could be a fossil of the wondrous activity Cassini discovered spraying from Saturn's geyser moon Enceladus or perhaps a weaker copycat Enceladus," said Cassini team leader Bonnie Buratti of...
John P. Millis, Ph.D. for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Predicting the weather is difficult. With varying pressures, planetary rotation and various other factors, weather systems on Earth border on chaos. But, believe it or not, predicting the weather on the third rock from the sun is rather straightforward compared to predicting the atmospheric motions of the gas giants that lay beyond the asteroid belt. The primary reason is that, unlike Earth, the Jovian worlds do not have...
PHOENIX, May 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- IO, the global leader in software-defined data centers, today announced the closing of a new $260,000,000 multi-year credit facility led by Wells Fargo. IO's existing bank group, consisting of Wells Fargo and Mutual Bank of Omaha, has been expanded to include Bank of America, Bank of Montreal, JPMorgan Chase Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, National Bank of Arizona, Goldman Sachs Lending Partners and Morgan Stanley Bank. "We are pleased to have led...
John P. Millis, Ph.D. for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Prior to the Apollo Moon missions, scientists conjectured that the Moon would be extremely dry, that even below the surface of the Magnificent Desolation little or no water would be present. But the rocks brought back by the lunar explorers revealed that the Moon, while still dry compared to Earth, contained a surprising amount of water. Furthermore, the composition of the Moon led scientists to the current Big Impact...
Latest Solar System Reference Libraries
The prominent feature that allows for the existence of life on Earth is the Sun. Radiation from our closest star provides heat and energy to our planet, driving biological processes and providing the necessary conditions for liquid water to naturally exist. But our Sun is only but one star in this vast Universe. And as it turns out, most stars are quite different than the one that illuminates our day. For this reason, scientists have, for hundreds of years, attempted to study the other...
Image Caption: Artistic concept of a planetary system. Credit: Wikipedia/NASA/JPL-Caltech The term Astronomy encompasses a broad range of topics, including the study of stars, galaxies, and planets. In order to focus on the different areas of study, many subfields of astronomy emerge. One such area is the study of planets known, appropriately, as Planetary Astronomy. Observational Planetary Astronomy Even within the field of Planetary Astronomy, there are several divisions to...
Planetary and Space Science is a peer-reviewed scientific journal established in 1959 and published by Elsevier 15 times per year. As of May 2012, the editor-in-chief is Rita Schulz (The Netherlands). The journal publishes original research articles and short communications. The main focus is on solar system processes which encompass multiple areas of the natural sciences. Research that involves planetary and space sciences involves many disciplines. Celestial mechanics is part of these...
Ernst Wilhelm Leberecht Tempel was born on December 4, 1821 in Germany and died March 16, 1889. Tempel worked in Marseille until the onset of the Franco Prussian War in 1870 at which time he relocated to Italy. Tempel discovered or assisted in discovering 21 comets. The Tempel asteroid 3808 and lunar crater Tempel are named in his honor. His most notable discoveries include the following asteroids 564 Angelina, 65 Cybele, 74 Galatea, 81 Terpsichore and 97 Klotho.
Ernst Wilhelm Leberecht Tempel was born on December 4, 1821 in Germany and died March 16, 1889. Tempel worked in Marseille until the onset of the Franco Prussian War in 1870 at which time he relocated to Italy. Tempel discovered or assisted in discovering 21 comets. The Tempel asteroid 3808 and lunar crater Tempel are named in his honor. His most notable discoveries include the following asteroids 564 Angelina, 65 Cybele, 74 Galatea, 81 Terpsichore and 97 Klotho.
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