Wednesday, June 4, 2014

ScienceDaily: Astronomy News

ScienceDaily: Astronomy News

Astronomers find a new type of planet: The 'mega-Earth'

Posted: 02 Jun 2014 08:58 AM PDT

Astronomers have discovered a new type of planet -- a rocky world weighing 17 times as much as Earth. Theorists believed such a world couldn't form because anything so hefty would grab hydrogen gas as it grew and become a Jupiter-like gas giant. This planet, though, is all solids and much bigger than previously discovered 'super-Earths,' making it a 'mega-Earth.'

Because you can't eat just one: Star will swallow two planets

Posted: 02 Jun 2014 08:58 AM PDT

Two worlds orbiting a distant star are about to become a snack of cosmic proportions. Astronomers announced that the planets Kepler-56b and Kepler-56c will be swallowed by their star in a short time by astronomical standards. Their ends will come in 130 million and 155 million years, respectively.

'Neapolitan' exoplanets come in three flavors

Posted: 02 Jun 2014 08:58 AM PDT

The planets of our solar system come in two basic flavors, like vanilla and chocolate ice cream. We have small, rocky terrestrials like Earth and Mars, and large gas giants like Neptune and Jupiter. We're missing the astronomical equivalent of strawberry ice cream -- planets between about one and four times the size of Earth.

Harsh space weather may doom potential life on red-dwarf planets

Posted: 02 Jun 2014 08:58 AM PDT

Life in the universe might be even rarer than we thought. Recently, astronomers looking for potentially habitable worlds have targeted red dwarf stars because they are the most common type of star, composing 80 percent of the stars in the universe. But a new study shows that harsh space weather might strip the atmosphere of any rocky planet orbiting in a red dwarf's habitable zone.

The 'Serpent' star-forming cloud hatches new stars

Posted: 02 Jun 2014 07:01 AM PDT

Stars that are just beginning to coalesce out of cool swaths of dust and gas are showcased in a new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS). Infrared light has been assigned colors we see with our eyes, revealing young stars in orange and yellow, and a central parcel of gas in blue. This area is hidden in visible-light views, but infrared light can travel through the dust, offering a peek inside the stellar hatchery.

NASA's saucer-shaped craft preps for flight test

Posted: 02 Jun 2014 06:53 AM PDT

NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) project, a rocket-powered, saucer-shaped test vehicle, has completed final assembly at the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii. This experimental flight test is designed to investigate breakthrough technologies that will benefit future Mars missions, including those involving human exploration. Three weeks of testing, simulations and rehearsals are planned before the first launch opportunity on the morning of June 3.

LDSD testing for large payloads to Mars

Posted: 02 Jun 2014 06:42 AM PDT

What will it take to land heavier spacecraft on Mars? How will engineers slow large payloads traveling at supersonic speeds in a thin Martian atmosphere? Can this be done? NASA's Wallops Flight Facility is playing an integral role in potentially answering those questions with the Low Density Supersonic Decelerator mission, or LDSD.

Time flies in new exoplanet video exploring beyond the boundaries of our solar system

Posted: 06 May 2014 06:47 AM PDT

Under normal circumstances most people who dream of staring into space would need to purchase a telescope and a book on astronomy to make sense of it all. A new video demonstrates the vast range of time-scales on which exoplanets orbit host stars.
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