Friday, June 7, 2013

ScienceDaily: Stars News

ScienceDaily: Stars News


Astronomers gear up to discover Earth-like planets

Posted: 06 Jun 2013 04:08 PM PDT

Dust clouds around stars are thought to hide many undiscovered planets with conditions suitable for life, but observations have been hampered by the fact that only the brightest such clouds can be detected with current technology. Astronomers are developing a technique to detect faint dust clouds, many of which might hide Earth-like planets.

'Dust trap' around young star solves long-standing planet formation mystery

Posted: 06 Jun 2013 11:05 AM PDT

Astronomers have imaged a region around a young star where dust particles can grow by clumping together. This is the first time that such a dust trap has been clearly observed and modeled. It solves a long-standing mystery about how dust particles in discs grow to larger sizes so that they can eventually form comets, planets and other rocky bodies.

Stars don't obliterate their planets (very often)

Posted: 06 Jun 2013 10:47 AM PDT

Stars have an alluring pull on planets, especially those in a class called hot Jupiters, which are gas giants that form farther from their stars before migrating inward and heating up. Now, a new study using data from NASA's Kepler Space Telescope shows that hot Jupiters, despite their close-in orbits, are not regularly consumed by their stars. Instead, the planets remain in fairly stable orbits for billions of years, until the day comes when they may ultimately get eaten.

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