Can a star make planets with 10% of what the Sun had to work with? A synergy between two powerhouse survey telescopes is helping astronomers find that answer.
planetary evolution
Nearest Star System May Have a Second Planet
The exoplanet candidate, tentatively named Proxima c, would be a frozen snowball.
Ultrahot Exoplanet Bleeds Heavy Metals into Space
The planet is also shaped like a football (the American kind).
The “Yellowball” Catalog and the Citizen Science That Helped Define It
The online community of the Milky Way Project citizen scientists helped scientists identify compact star-forming regions now known as yellowballs.
The Cassini Mission May Be Over, but New Discoveries Abound
New analysis of high-resolution images shows ring textures and disruptions within Saturn’s rings in unprecedented detail.
Giant Planets and Brown Dwarfs Form in Different Ways
Once thought to be part of the same population, planets larger than Jupiter and “failed stars” likely grow via different mechanisms, the Gemini Planet Imager Exoplanet Survey has shown.
The Quaking, Shrinking Moon
New evidence suggests that the Moon may still be tectonically active.
Passing Object May Have Kicked Up Dust from a Planetary Disk
The elongated tail of the SU Aurigae protoplanetary disk was likely formed as a result of a flyby from a substellar object.
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Searches for a New Home
Seismic activity during the eruption of Kīlauea damaged the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory beyond repair. Now officials are looking for a new site.
How Mars Lost Steam
Solar winds are not the main culprit in stripping the planet’s atmosphere, a new study suggests.