With no atmosphere in the way, measurements of the planet’s surface temperature are the first observational constraints on mantle convection models for an exoplanet.
exoplanets
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Exoplanet Earth: An Ultimate Selfie to Find Habitable Worlds
Aliens spying on us from afar is a common science fiction trope. Soon we might know what E.T. would see through a telescope. And that information could help identify other Earth-like planets.
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Preparing for a Handoff
Scientists with Interstellar Probe, a proposed 50-year flight to interstellar space, are pondering how to plan and carry out a multigenerational mission.
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Machine Learning Can Help Decode Alien Skies—Up to a Point
Astronomers are testing the tools that might help them keep up with the upcoming storm of exoplanet atmosphere data.
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Looking Back at Our Pale Blue Dot
Astronomers model changes in Earth’s chemical signature over the past 4 billion years to improve the search for Earth-like exoplanets.
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Dust from Colliding Asteroids Masqueraded as a Planet
New analysis of Hubble Space Telescope images suggests that Fomalhaut b, once believed to be an extrasolar planet, is, in fact, a cloud of dust that likely formed from the collision of enormous asteroids.
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Record-Setting Winds on a Nearby Brown Dwarf
Infrared and radio observations reveal zonal winds moving faster than 2,000 kilometers per hour on a “failed star” in our celestial neighborhood.
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Earth’s Skies Transmitted Signs of Life During Lunar Eclipse
Using upcoming ground- and space-based telescopes, scientists hope to make similar observations of the skies of distant, Earth-like exoplanets.
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Hot White Dwarfs May Reveal Cold Gas Giants
The gaseous atmospheres of giant planets may evaporate and accrete onto the dense surfaces of white dwarfs, providing astronomers a new way to detect hidden exoplanets.
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An Exoplanet with Evolving Clouds of Salts
Clouds form and dissipate on a gas giant orbiting a Sun-like star.