Artist’s impression of what the rings of the asteroid Chariklo would look like from the small body’s surface. Credit: ESO/L. Calçada/Nick Risinger (skysurvey.org)

Welcome all space and astronomy fans! We are very happy to be hosting the Carnival of Space this week here at CosmoQuest. Though some of the writers have been long-time contributors to the carnival, this is our very first time hosting it here. So, welcome! Let’s dive into this week’s great stories…

Asteroids continue to amaze us as rings were discovered around the asteroid Chariklo, making it just the fifth body in the Solar System to show such features. Read all about it on Universe Today and the Meridiani Journal. The Spacewriter also gives us the story on this ringed asteroid, as well as an exciting new discovery of a dwarf planet in the outer Solar System. Next Big Future also discusses the dwarf planet 2012 VP113 and the possibility of finding more objects like it.

Left:Hubble Space Telescope picture of comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring photographed March 11, 2014. Right: When the glow of the coma is subtracted through image processing, Hubble resolves what appear to be two jets of dust coming off the nucleus in opposite directions. Credit: NASA, ESA, and J.-Y. Li (Planetary Science Institute)

Elsewhere in the Solar System, Comet Siding Spring develops multiple gas and dust jets as imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope on its way to a close encounter with Mars, as brought to you by Universe Today.

Back on Earth, the search is on for the World’s dark sky heritage sites. Check out the Starlight Foundation, featured by Links Through Space, and help preserve the darkest skies still left to us. Meanwhile, the “Here, There, Everywhere” exhibit visits the Manatee County Public Library, sharing the connection of our everyday world with the Universe at large.

Urban Astronomer shares early weather predictions on exoplanets, as spectra from the Hubble Space Telescope have gotten good enough to show the cloudiness on Neptune-like and “SuperEarth” planets.

With all these planets everywhere, how do they form after all? Get a great overview with stunning graphics at BrownSpaceMan.

That’s all the space news for now! I’ll be adding any last links that come through for the rest of the week, so check back here soon.

Find out more about the Carnival of Space at Universe Today.

P.S. We missed last week’s Carnival, #346, so check that out as well on Photos to Space Blog.