NEAs tagged posts

There’s one last place Planet Nine could be Hiding

Artist’s illustration of Planet Nine with the Sun and orbit of Neptune (ring) in the distance. (Credit: ESO/Tomruen/nagualdesign)

A study recently submitted to The Astronomical Journal continues to search for the elusive Planet Nine (also called Planet X), which is a hypothetical planet that potentially orbits in the outer reaches of the solar system and well beyond the orbit of the dwarf planet, Pluto.

The goal of this study, which is available on the pre-print server arXiv, was to narrow down the possible locations of Planet Nine and holds the potential to help researchers better understand the makeup of our solar system, along with its formation and evolutionary processes. So, what was the motivation behind this study regarding narrowing down the location of a potential Planet 9?

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‘Mini Psyches’ give insights into Mysterious Metal-Rich Near-Earth Asteroids

An asteroid in space with Earth in the background
An artist impression of a close flyby of the metal-rich near-Earth asteroid 1986 DA. Astronomers using the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility have confirmed that the asteroid is made of 85% metal.Addy Graham/University of Arizona

New research into metal-rich asteroids reveals information about the origins and compositions of these rare bodies that could one day be mined. Metal-rich near-Earth asteroids, or NEAs, are rare, but their presence provides the intriguing possibility that iron, nickel and cobalt could someday be mined for use on Earth or in Space.

New research, published in the Planetary Science Journal, investigated two metal-rich asteroids in our own cosmic backyard to learn more about their origins, compositions and relationships with meteorites found on Earth.

These me...

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