Category Astronomy/Space

Rosetta’s detection of molecular oxygen

ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft has made the 1st in situ detection of oxygen molecules outgassing from a comet, a surprising observation that suggests they were incorporated into the comet during its formation.

Rosetta has been studying Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko for over a year and has detected an abundance of different gases pouring from its nucleus. Water vapour, CO and CO2 are the most prolific, with a rich array of other N-, S- and C-bearing species, and even ‘noble gases’ also recorded...

Artist’s impression of a fifth giant planet being ejected from the solar system. Image credit: Southwest Research Institute

The existence of a 5th giant gas planet at the time of the Solar System’s formation – in addition to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune that we know of today – was first proposed in 2011. But if it did exist, how did it get pushed out? For years, scientists have suspected the ouster was either Saturn or Jupiter.

“Our evidence points to Jupiter,” said Ryan Cloutier
Planet ejections occur as a result of a close planetary encounter in which one of the objects accelerates so much that it breaks free from the massive gravitational pull of the Sun...

Astronomers using the VISTA telescope at ESO’s Paranal Observatory have discovered a previously unknown component of the Milky Way. By mapping out the locations of a class of stars that vary in brightness called Cepheids, a disc of young stars buried behind thick dust clouds in the central bulge has been found. This diagram shows the locations of the newly discovered Cepheids in an artist’s rendering of the Milky Way. The yellow star indicates the position of the Sun. Credit: ESO/Microsoft Worldwide Telescope

By mapping out the locations of a class of stars ie Cepheids, that vary in brightness , a disc of young stars buried behind thick dust clouds in the central bulge has been found. “The central bulge of the Milky Way is thought to consist of vast numbers of old stars...

Southwest Research Institute scientists developed a new process in planetary formation modeling that explains the size and mass difference between the Earth and Mars. Mars is much smaller and has only 10 percent of the mass of the Earth. Conventional solar system formation models generate good analogs to Earth and Venus, but predict that Mars should be of similar-size, or even larger than Earth. Credit: Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL/MSSS

Using a new process in planetary formation modeling, where planets grow from tiny bodies called ‘pebbles,’ scientists can explain why Mars is so much smaller than Earth. This same process also explains the rapid formation of the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn, as reported earlier this year.

“This numerical simulation actually reproduces the structure of the in...