28 June 2019
NASA drone to search for signs of early life on Titan
... only is this exceptional world big enough to be a planet in its own right, it has a hydrologic system whereby heavy methane storms cause rain to pour down on the surface. But instead of a water cycle like on Earth, when it precipitates...
03 July 2019
New study reveals detailed exoplanet atmosphere
... strongly enriched in heavier elements like oxygen and carbon which are forming abundant water vapour and methane gas, similar to what we see on Neptune,” said Benneke. "Instead, we found an atmosphere that is so poor in heavy elements that...
28 August 2019
SpaceX's Skyhopper impresses with its highest test flight
... of test flights up to 20 kilometres high. Starhopper is the first vehicle to use a SpaceX-designed Raptor engine burning cryogenic methane with liquid oxygen. The finished version will be much larger and will be composed of six engines compared...
16 December 2019
Cheops, ESA's exoplanet watching telescope launches tomorrow
... across many disciplines. It will be used to search for, amongst many other things, the signatures of water and methane and other important elements in the quest for habitable words. “We want to look at atmospheres, following planets in their...
01 January 2020
What has been in 2019 and what is to come in 2020!
... made the news. ESA's planet watching telescope finally took to the skies The presence, or absence of water, methane and oxygen on our nearest planetary neighbour is still a point of debate and like the Moon, organisations and...
14 February 2020
Arrokoth helps resolve longstanding controversy on Solar System evolution
... as to how methanol could have formed on this object, including formation by cosmic ray irradiation of mixed water and methane ices Despite the individual nature of each study, there was one recurring, underlying feature that lead...
