Category Astronomy/Space

Analysis finds evidence for many exoplanets made of water and rock around small stars. A new study suggests that many more planets may have large amounts of water than previously thought–as much as half water and half rock. The catch? All that water is probably embedded in the rock, rather than flowing as oceans or rivers on the surface.

Water is the one thing all life on Earth needs, and the cycle of rain to river to ocean to rain is an essential part of what keeps our planet’s climate stabl...

An international research team including astronomers at the University of Birmingham, has just announced the discovery of two “super-Earth” planets orbiting LP 890-9, a small, cool star located about 100 light-years from Earth.

The star, also called TOI-4306 or SPECULOOS-2, is the second-coolest star found to host planets, after the famous TRAPPIST-1. This rare discovery is the subject of a forthcoming publication in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

The system’s inner planet, called LP 890-9b, is about 30% larger than Earth and completes an orbit around the star in just 2.7 days. This first planet was initially identified as a possible planet candidate by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), a space mission searching for exoplanets orbiting nearby stars...

Jupiter-sized planets can be stolen or captured by massive stars in the densely populated stellar nurseries where most stars are born, a new study has found.

Researchers from the University of Sheffield have proposed a novel explanation for the recently discovered B-star Exoplanet Abundance STudy (BEAST) planets. These are Jupiter-like planets at large distances (hundreds of times the distance between the Earth and the Sun) from massive stars.

Until now their formation has been something of a mystery, as massive stars emit large amounts of ultraviolet radiation that stops planets from growing to the size of Jupiter – the largest planet in our solar system.

Dr Emma Daffern-Powell, Co-author of the study, from the University of Sheffield’s Department of Physicsand Astronomy add...

A team of researchers, including UvA physicists and astronomers, has studied gamma rays caused by the Sagittarius Dwarf, a small neighbouring galaxy of our Milky Way. They showed that all the observed gamma radiation can be explained by millisecond pulsars, and can therefore not be interpreted as a smoking gun signature for the presence of dark matter. The results were published in Nature Astronomy this week.

The center of our galaxy is blowing a pair of colossal bubbles ...