Latest Solar System Stories
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Listen to the podcast “How Planets Form” with redOrbit's Dr. John Millis and planet-hunting expert Dr. Eric Mamajek of the University of Rochester. Astronomers from California Institute of Technology (Caltech) wrote in the Astrophysical Journal that our galaxy may be filled with more planets than researchers had previously thought – a discovery that could have deep implications for our understanding of the universe. The team...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Researchers have identified a new class of Martian meteorite that they believe originated from Mars' crust. The team wrote in Thursday's issue of Science Express that this new meteorite contains more water than any other Martian meteorite ever found. The sample is the only one found that dates back to 2.1 billion years ago, which is an early era on Mars known as the Amazonian. The meteorite, known as Northwest Africa (NWA) 7034,...
[ Video 1 ] | [ Video 2 ] Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Listen to the podcast “How Planets Form” with redOrbit's Dr. John Millis and planet-hunting expert Dr. Eric Mamajek of the University of Rochester. Astronomers who made observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope are helping to shed light on planet-forming gas streams. The international team of astronomers studied the young star HD 142527, seeing a key stage in...
John P. Millis, Ph.D. for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Starting in early 2013, redOrbit will be launching a new podcast series called Your Universe Today, where we interview leading scientists about cutting-edge research in everything from space travel to the origins of our Universe. But we’re in the holiday spirit and couldn’t wait until January to unveil our new podcast project, so we’ve decided to give you a sneak peak of what’s to come. In the second...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to gaze upon the stars will be had next year by thousands of backyard astronomers who wish to catch a glimpse of the comet of the century. Comet Ison has yet to earn its spotlight in the media, but soon enough it will be the trending topic among all the search engines. The comet, which was discovered by two Russian astronomers, will be "the biggest star of 2013" and "brighter than a full moon,"...
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Dr. John Millis for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Mars, the subject of human fascination for millennia, is an amazing world with an interesting history. Here, we look at the five most amazing facts about the Red Planet. 1. Mars is only about half the diameter of Earth: We often think of Mars as being quite similar to Earth; a place to visit and potentially inhabit in the future. But while it does bear some similarity with Earth, it is much smaller. In fact… 2. The...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Researchers have found evidence that ancient caverns on Mars may have captured enormous flood waters some 2 billion years ago. Planetary Science Institute researchers studied the terminal regions of the Hebrus Valles, which is an outflow channel that extends about 155 miles downstream from two zones of surface collapse. The Martian outflow channels are made up of some of the largest known channels in the solar system....
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online The youngest still-forming solar system ever seen has been discovered by astronomers and reported about in the journal Nature. Astronomers found an infant star surrounded by a swirling disk of dust and gas more than 450 light-years from Earth in the constellation Taurus. The star has about one-fifth the mass of the Sun, but the scientists say it will likely pull in material from its surroundings to eventually match the Sun's mass....
Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, has long been projected as an icy body with a vast ocean of liquid water underneath its crust. A recent analysis suggested that heat generated from within the natural satellite helps keep this ocean from freezing due to interactions it has with Saturn and the other moons. And now, a new analysis of the moon’s topography and gravity indicates that its icy outer crust is twice as dense as previously...
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.
