Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Researchers have found water vapor in the disk around a young star exactly where planets may be forming. Water is a key ingredient for life on Earth and is also thought to play a significant role in planet formation, yet until now, astronomers have never been able to map how water…
Category: Planets
Earth as a test object to evaluate the planned LIFE space mission
The LIFE mission’s five satellites are connected to form a large space telescope. Credit: ETH Zurich / LIFE initiative Physicists at ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich wanted to know whether the planned LIFE space mission could really detect traces of life on other planets. Yes, it can, say the researchers, with the help…
The possibility of past life on Mars: Biomolecules may have originated from atmospheric formaldehyde
Diagram showing the formation of formaldehyde (H2CO) in the warm atmosphere of ancient Mars and its conversion into molecules vital for life in the ocean. Credit: Shungo Koyama Organic materials discovered on Mars may have originated from atmospheric formaldehyde, according to new research, marking a step forward in our understanding of the possibility of past…
A new beginning: Astronomers search for more temperate 'Tatooines'
A selection of potential spin–orbit and orbit–orbit configurations for binary star systems with a circumprimary, transiting exoplanet. The transiting planet’s orbit is shown in these example systems, while only the relative positional displacement and velocity vector are displayed for the stellar binary orbit. Credit: The Astronomical Journal (2024). DOI: 10.3847/1538-3881/ad1bed Star Wars protagonist Luke Skywalker’s…
Physicists suggest a possible way to confirm or deny the existence of the Chinguetti meteorite
Map showing the high sand dunes, > 30 m height, to the south of Chinguetti. Credit: arXiv (2024). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2402.14150 Three physicists have taken a new look at the circumstances surrounding the mysterious Chinguetti meteorite and developed a means for confirming whether it exists or not. In their paper posted to the arXiv preprint server,…
Korean researchers create an electrostatic environment that simulates the moon's surface
The photoelectric current measurement unit. Credit: Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT) Continuous research is being conducted globally on using the moon as an advanced base for deep space exploration, and Korea is no exception in these efforts. The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT) successfully implemented an electrostatic…
Three years later, the search for life on Mars continues
Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemistry (SHERLOC) and Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL) sulfate mineral compositions from the Quartier abrasion (SHERLOC sol 293). (a) Colorized ACI image of the analyzed region. The cyan boxes indicate the SHERLOC scan points where sulfate phases were detected at SNR ≥10. Cyan circles…
Researchers leverage machine learning to improve space weather predictions
Steady state conditions of the auroral current system pattern in the Arctic region (polar view), which varies with the direction of the magnetic field of the solar wind, can be reproduced by SMRAI2 almost perfectly. Red and blue represent earthward (downward) and upward currents, respectively; Y and Z represent the direction of the solar wind…
Passing stars altered orbital evolution of Earth and other planets, astronomers find
Illustration of the uncertainty of Earth’s orbit 56 million years ago due to a potential past passage of the Sun-like star HD7977 2.8 million years ago. Each point’s distance from the center corresponds to the degree of ellipticity of Earth’s orbit, and the angle corresponds to the direction pointing to Earth’s perihelion, or closest approach…
Are we about to find out the moon's origin? Japan's space agency says it may now have clues
This image provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)/Takara Tomy/Sony Group Corporation/Doshisha University shows an image taken by a Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2 (LEV-2) of a robotic moon rover called Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, on the moon. A Japanese moon explorer, after making a historic “pinpoint” lunar landing last month, has…