Tuesday, July 1, 2014

ScienceDaily: Astronomy News

ScienceDaily: Astronomy News

Potentially habitable Earth-like planet discovered; May have similar temperatures to our planet

Posted: 30 Jun 2014 10:34 AM PDT

A potentially habitable Earth-like planet that is only 16 light years away has been discovered. The "super-Earth" planet, GJ 832 c, takes 16 days to orbit its red-dwarf star, GJ 832, and has a mass at least five times that of Earth. It receives about the same average stellar energy as Earth does and may have similar temperatures to our planet. These characteristics put it among the top three most Earth-like planets.

Mysterious features on Saturn's Titan reveal the moon's seasonal changes

Posted: 30 Jun 2014 06:48 AM PDT

At first glance, Titan has little in common with Earth. The largest moon of Saturn, temperatures on Titan's surface dip nearly 300 F below zero, its seas slosh with liquid methane, and its sky is a murky shade of creamsicle. And yet, fresh analysis of mysterious features spotted on the moon indicates that it experiences one of the same global processes that is important here on Earth. Bright spots in a large lake on Titan suggest that Saturn's largest moon supports processes similar to Earth's water cycle.

Successful test of saucer-shaped vehicle for future Mars missions

Posted: 30 Jun 2014 05:12 AM PDT

NASA has successfully conducted the first of three planned tests for the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) project, developed to evaluate new landing technologies for future Mars missions. While this initial test was designed to determine the flying ability of the vehicle, it also deployed two new landing technologies as a bonus. Those landing technologies will be officially tested in the next two flights, involving clones of the saucer-shaped vehicle.
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