28 October 2019
Hygiea asteroid could turn out to be the smallest dwarf planet yet
... Pallas in the mass and volume department. At present, Ceres is currently the only unambiguous dwarf planet inside Neptune's orbit. So what does it take to be classified as a dwarf planet? As an object in the main asteroid belt, Hygiea already...
16 December 2019
Cheops, ESA's exoplanet watching telescope launches tomorrow
... programme, to uncover precise size measurements of these already identified exoworlds which range from super-Earth to Neptune-sized planets. The planet watcher will make these high-precision observations by measuring the minuscule brightness ...
20 May 2020
Twisted feature could be the first direct evidence of a baby planet being born
... of planet formation, adds Dutrey and this one lies at about the same distance from the star as Neptune from the Sun. Soon astronomers should be able to get even more detailed views of planets in the making...
19 October 2020
Astronomers identify a true water-world that could have an ocean over 100 kms deep
... unfortunately the transits of this planet candidate, which is on the border between that of a super-Earth and a mini-Neptune, will not be visible in the re-observation of this star in TESS cycle 3. In addition, the team suggest that the...
06 November 2020
The Moon could have a long-lost "twin" in orbit around Mars
... with Mars, these small rocky worlds can also be found in their thousands flocking around Jupiter and Neptune within gravitational “safe havens” known as Lagrange points. Scientists think that the Trojans may have attached...
12 March 2021
Scientists find a rocky exoplanet rebuilding its atmosphere
... GJ 1132 b, an exoplanet around a distant star, have found that this once gaseous planet which looked like Neptune is now a hot, rocky world with a poisonous atmosphere made from volcanic activity; a finding that shows planets...
