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
The Actual Astronomy Podcast presents The Observer’s Calendar for January 2024.
Astronomers estimate there are more planets in our galaxy than there are stars. Just how many is that?
December is here & the Last Minute Astronomer bring astronomy to normies and nerds, with little time to spare. We have the naked eye planets visible this month, the lunar phases, and then the meteor shower and other events, so you can plan ahead better than me.
The @cosmicsavannah talk to Professor Travis Rector about how to communicate climate change and why it is important for astronomers to do so.
Did you know that the discovery of other planets in orbit around other stars is a very recent one? Only 25 years ago, we had no idea there were any planets in our galaxy besides those in our solar system. Now, not only have we discovered them, but astronomers estimate there are trillions of them. There are so many exoplanets out there that every star in our galaxy could have at least one.