21 June 2017
LISA gets green light from ESA
... in ESA's Cosmic Vision programme and its aim is to find and study a large number of extrasolar planetary systems, in particular those that mirror our own solar system i.e terrestrial-type planets in the habitable zone around solar-like stars.
01 August 2019
One of Ten Billion Earths
...of the ‘astronomical’ numbers involved in the study of the universe and its estimated population of 100 sextillion planetary systems (that’s 100 followed by 21 noughts!). According to the author, “Earth is estimated to be one of several billion Earth...
02 December 2015
Displaced dusty planet booted out of its birthplace
...planet is also unusual in that its orbit is possibly tilted 21 degrees away from the plane of the inner planetary system, whereas most planets typically lie close to a common plane,” explains Kalas. It is clear that further observations of HD 106906b...
17 March 2017
Giant Jupiter-like planet gives a rare peek at alternative planet formation
... we have a snapshot of a baby star that just formed its planetary system," said Smadar Naoz, a UCLA assistant professor of physics and astronomy...it does by focusing on the effects of a planetary-mass perturber orbiting within the disk. However the ...
11 December 2019
Water abundance lower than expected on exoplanets
... for signs of sodium (Na) and potassium (K) as these elements can provide important constraints on how planets are formed. Planetary systems, like our own, are born from a giant cloud of matter called a protoplanetray disk. First the star...
August 2020
Revisiting the Drake Equation - a cultural addendum
...other planets. Lisa Pratt, NASA’s current Planetary Protection Officer, is concerned with forward ...past. As we begin the intrepid adventure of colonising our own solar system, I believe it is important to reflect on global colonial habits. ...
