There are planets in orbit around stars outside our solar system – and even rogue planets. But finding them is very hard. They are small and dim. But ideally, we’d like to see them directly, in our telescopes. Is that possible?
June brings us the quote “Parade of Planets”…well, sort of…Listen up as I discuss which planets are visible, which aren’t, and when the Moon will pass by them.
Most of the exoplanets we’ve found are around stars, where they belong. But a few have been found free-floating in interstellar space. How do they form and how can we learn more about them?
How do planets get tidally locked? What are these systems typically like? Can life find a home in such a challenging environment?
Today Observer’s Calendar for May with Actual Astronomy talk about meteor shower, Mercury in the morning sky lines up with other planets and Pallas at opposition.
One of our recurring topics is “Planet formation is not well understood,” and a trio of new papers is making it clear why planet formation continues to… not be well understood. Put simply: the Universe likes to create more diverse solar systems than an entire planet’s worth of sci-fi writers can imagine.
Several of the planets and moons in the Solar System are in orbital resonance, orbiting in a geometric lockstep. And not just the Solar System, astronomers have found the same resonances in other star systems.
How do we track dangerous asteroids? What can impacts do to us? What do we plan to do if The Big One is headed for us? Is Armageddon a documentary?
We’ve sent robots to other worlds but the amount of science we can deploy can’t compare with the vast science labs we have on Earth. That’s why more and more missions are for a sample return.
JWST observed methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of a planet. And we want to know that life is common. But we have not evidence yet. More at #365DaysOfAstro