Category Astronomy/Space

Hubble spots a moon around the dwarf planet 2007 OR10. These two images, taken a year apart, reveal a moon orbiting the dwarf planet 2007 OR10. Each image, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3, shows the companion in a different orbital position around its parent body. 2007 OR10 is the third-largest known dwarf planet, behind Pluto and Eris, and the largest unnamed world in the solar system. The pair is located in the Kuiper Belt, a realm of icy debris left over from the solar system’s formation. Credits: NASA, ESA, C. Kiss (Konkoly Observatory), and J. Stansberry (STScI)

The combined power of 3 space observatories, including NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, has helped astronomers uncover a moon orbiting the third largest dwarf planet, catalogued as 2007 OR10...

Geochemist duo offer new explanation for dearth of xenon in Earth’s atmosphere Credit: University of Manchester

Scientists have revealed that some of Earth’s atmosphere may have been brought to the planet by comets billions of years ago. The mystery of how the Earth’s atmosphere was formed has long baffled scientists. Some researchers think comets might have originally brought some of the water, organic and atmospheric molecules to Earth that now make up its life. Now a new study from The University of Manchester, UK, Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques (CRPG) and Université de Lorraine (Nancy, France), has found evidence to back up the theory.

The scientists have been analysing tiny samples of ancient air trapped in water bubbles found in quartz, which dates back >3 b...

Human activities have been changing near-Earth space and weather. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Genna Duberstein

Our Cold War history is now offering scientists a chance to better understand the complex space system that surrounds us. Space weather – which can include changes in Earth’s magnetic environment – are usually triggered by the sun’s activity, but recently declassified data on high-altitude nuclear explosion tests have provided a new look at the mechanisms that set off perturbations in that magnetic system. Such information can help support NASA’s efforts to protect satellites and astronauts from the natural radiation inherent in space.

From 1958 to 1962, the U.S. and U.S.S.R. ran high-altitude tests with exotic code names like Starfish, Argus and Teak...

Valley networks on Mars show evidence for surface runoff driven by rainfall. Credit: Image courtesy of Elsevier

New study reveals how changes in Martian rainfall shaped the planet. Heavy rain on Mars reshaped the planet’s impact craters and carved out river-like channels in its surface billions of years ago. Changes in the atmosphere on Mars made it rain harder and harder, which had a similar effect on the planet’s surface as we see on Earth. Mars has geological features like the Earth and moon, eg. craters and valleys, many of which were formed through rainfall. Although there is evidence that there was once water on Mars, it does not rain there today.

But in their new study, geologists Dr. Robert Craddock and Dr...