Topic: Solar Systems
Yellow Alert: Asteroid YR4 On Orbit with 2.25% Chance of Collision

Yellow Alert: Asteroid YR4 On Orbit with 2.25% Chance of Collision

by | Feb 9, 2025 |

Every once in a while, the Universe likes to remind us it has the ability to kill us.  Meet asteroid 2024 YR4. Discovered in late December, it could just hit the Earth on Dec 22, 2032. Discovered by the ATLAS survey, it was initially calculated to have a 1.3% chance of hitting Earth.  And that percentage hasn’t gone down with further data. In the past, new observations of potentially hazardous asteroids have consistently revealed lower to no chance of impact, so folks are feeling a bit uncomfortable right now. As I write this on February 9, the risk stands at 2.25% chance of...

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Lucy’s Discovered Dinkinesh Throws Rocks

Lucy’s Discovered Dinkinesh Throws Rocks

by | Jun 20, 2024 |

We often find ourselves saying that science moves at that rate of technology. With new telescopes and spacecraft we can get new views on the universe. And some of them are weirdly unexpected. Back in November 2023, the Lucy mission flew past the asteroid Dinkinesh on...

Mars was a badly made Earth 2

Mars was a badly made Earth 2

by | May 22, 2024 |

How a wet Mars may have appeared based on MOLA data. Credit: Ittiz When we look out across the Universe, or even just our Solar System, we are only seeing a moment in the fast history of space. We see a galaxy fully formed with spiral arms and a nice little bar. We...

JWST measures alien weather

JWST measures alien weather

by | May 22, 2024 |

Temperature map of WASP-43b provided by NASA's JWST One of JWST’s raison detres is studying the atmospheres of exoplanets - alien worlds orbiting far off stars. In a new paper in Nature Astronomy, we get spectacular evidence that JWST will achieve its goals. The...

Closer Look: Io and Juno Begin to Part Ways

Closer Look: Io and Juno Begin to Part Ways

by | May 8, 2024 |

Jupiter’s four largest satellites, the Galilean moons, are named after consorts of the Roman god Jupiter: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. Credit: NASA/JPL/DLR In Roman mythology, Jupiter is not exactly a faithful god. Some would allege him willing to bed just...

The Dying Sun will Take Out the Earth

The Dying Sun will Take Out the Earth

by | Apr 24, 2024 | ,

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...

Watching Atoms Escape Venus

Watching Atoms Escape Venus

by | Apr 24, 2024 |

This image was processed from archived Mariner 10 data by JPL engineer Kevin M. Gill. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Atmospheres are what make a planet good or evil for life. One of the questions I get asked most often is, “Can we terraform Venus to be like Earth?” Sure!...

Catch the (Alien) Rainbow

Catch the (Alien) Rainbow

by | Apr 24, 2024 |

Each glory is unique, depending on the composition of the planet’s atmosphere and the colors of the light from the star that illuminates it. WASP-76 (the «Sun» of WASP-76b) is a yellow and white main sequence star like our Sun, but different stars create glories with...