Tag Archives: planets

So much for heliocentrism. An international team of astronomers using observations made with the James Webb Space Telescope have found evidence of massive planets out there that’re capable of forming their own planetary systems — without a star.  These planets would be the center of something like a mini version of our solar system where other, smaller planets revolve around …

Just as the Perseid meteor shower approaches its peak, two luminous planets are getting in on the night-sky action. Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest planets in the sky, will meet in a conjunction very early on Tuesday morning (Aug. 12). On this morning, the two planets will be less than a degree apart — approximately the length of your …

This week, the Sturgeon Moon rises, giving moongazers across the world the chance to see a beautiful full Moon skimming the horizon. The Sturgeon Moon is the August full Moon, the eighth full Moon of the year, and rises on 9 August at 21:13 BST. What’s more, the Sturgeon Moon marks the beginning of a lunar meeting with the Solar …

IN A NUTSHELL 🌍 On August 5, 2025, Earth will complete its rotation 1.51 milliseconds earlier, leaving scientists baffled by the unexplained acceleration. 🔍 Traditional causes like ice melting and lunar gravity fail to explain the recent increase in Earth’s rotational speed. ⏱️ A potential negative leap second may be required to synchronize atomic time, posing challenges to global timekeeping …

Lava planets, some no larger than Earth, challenge everything we know about planetary science. These extreme worlds orbit so close to their stars that a single year lasts less than a day. Their surfaces reach temperatures hot enough to melt or even vaporize rock, creating conditions that are completely alien compared to Earth, Mars, or Venus. Yet it is precisely …

Just 35 light-years away, a small red dwarf star is turning heads. This unassuming star, named L 98-59, is in the center of one of the most closely examined planetary systems to date.  The reason? Because this star has at least five planets that fall in the habitable “goldilocks” zone, where conditions could allow liquid water to exist. …

Could there be an ocean buried deep beneath our feet, hidden some 700 kilometers below the Earth’s surface? If the recent discoveries from scientific teams in Brazil and Botswana are to be believed, this might not be as far-fetched as it seems. The findings suggest that a vast amount of water could be trapped in minerals deep within the Earth’s …

A team of astronomers from the University of Montreal has discovered a new potentially habitable exoplanet orbiting the red dwarf star L 98-59, 35 light-years from Earth. This discovery means there are now five confirmed planets in this solar system’s “temperate” or “habitable” zone, the region in a solar system where liquid water could exist on planets’ surfaces. The newly …

A Hidden Heat Source on Uranus Just Changed What We Know About Planets  SciTechDaily Uranus is warmer than everyone thought  New Atlas NASA, Oxford Discover Warmer Uranus Than Once Thought  NASA Science (.gov) Confirmed: Uranus Really Is Hotter Than It Has Any Right to Be  ScienceAlert 6 secrets about the first planet found by telescope that scientists still don’t understand.  WION Source link

Finding an exoplanet in a star’s habitable zone always generates interest. Each of these planets has a chance, even if it’s an infinitesimal one, of hosting simple life. While the possibility of detecting life on these distant planets is remote, finding them still teaches us about exoplanet populations and solar system architectures. When TESS found three planets orbiting the M-dwarf …