Clumps of debris from a disrupted planetesimal are irregularly spaced on a long and eccentric orbit around the white dwarf. Individual clouds of rubble intermittently pass in front of the white dwarf, blocking some of its light. Because of the various sizes of the fragments in these clumps, the brightness of the white dwarf flickers in a chaotic way. Credit: Dr Mark Garlick/The University of Warwick Living with a star today means we have a nice planet at a nice enough temperature to thrive, and we occasionally get treated to amazing light shows in the form of aurorae. This is only temporary,...
Bennu Descended from an Ocean World
A view of the outside of the OSIRIS-REx sample collector. Sample material from asteroid Bennu can be seen on the middle right. Scientists have found evidence of both carbon and water in initial analysis of this material. The bulk of the sample is located inside....
Mimas’ Baby Ocean
In this view captured by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on its closest-ever flyby of Saturn's moon Mimas, large Herschel Crater dominates Mimas, making the moon look like the Death Star in the movie "Star Wars." Herschel Crater is 130 kilometers, or 80 miles, wide and...
Medium Rock with Smaller Rock Herding Ring of Tiny Rocks
This illustration shows what the Centaur Chariklo and its rings could look like, based on our current understanding. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Leah Hustak (STScI) In school, we learn all about the eight planets, Pluto, the asteroid belt - and its larger members like OG...
Caught on Camera and Apprehended
Mohutsiwa Gabadirwe (center of photo) and Peter Jenniskens (left, kneeling) at the site of the second find of a piece of asteroid 2018 LA recovered in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in central Botswana. Credit: SETI Institute Our Solar System contains a whole lot...
Closer Look: NASA’s Day of Remembrance and Celebrating the Robots of Mars
Every year, toward the end of January, NASA sets aside a day of remembrance to look back at the three missions that were lost with astronauts aboard: Apollo 1 on Jan 27, 1967 Challenger STS 51L on Jan 28, 1986 Columbia STS 107 on Feb 1, 2003 Apollo 1 Crew (l-r):...
Iron Identified in Planet-Forming Disk
Observations with the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) found various silicate compounds and potentially iron, substances we also find in large amounts in the Solar System’s rocky planets. Credit: Jenry I’ve said it...
Alien Atmospheric Change
This is an artist’s impression of the exoplanet WASP 121-b, also known as Tylos. The exoplanet’s appearance is based on Hubble data of the object. Credit: NASA, ESA, Q. Changeat et al., M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble) Astronomers have only been able to identify planets...
Closer Look: The Requirements for Life
Hydrothermal-vent chimney. In the center of the photo, you can see the vent fluid which appears like dark smoke due to the high levels of minerals and sulfides contained in the fluid. Look closely, and you will also see the chimney is crawling with Chorocaris shrimp...
Harsh environments ok for planets… not for life
Artist's impression of the massive star-forming region, with the planet-forming disk XUE-1 in the foreground. The region is drenched in UV light from massive stars, one of which is visible in the top left corner. The structure near the disk represents the molecules...
Small star hosts (smaller) huge planet
Artistic rendering of the possible view from LHS 3154b towards its low mass host star. Given its large mass, LHS 3154b probably has a Neptune-like composition. Credit: Penn State Solar systems keep finding new ways to surprise us and to convince us that we don’t...