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NEWS ABOUT: planets

Mars Rover Moves for 1st Time in 5 Months

Had to weather Martian winter

(AP) - The Mars rover Opportunity is on the go again. After spending nearly five months conducting experiments in one spot, the NASA rover moved for the first time this week, rolling off the rock outcrop where it hunkered down for the Martian winter. The mission team received confirmation late Tuesday that... More »

Milky Way Has Tens of Billions of Habitable Planets

These super-Earths are all over the galaxy, say scientists

(Newser) - Could aliens be hanging out in the Milky Way? A new discovery by astronomers shows they'd have plenty of possible homes in the galaxy, reports Reuters . The researchers found that tens of billions of planets reside in a habitable zone close to a star, allowing water to flow on... More »

Venus, Jupiter Nestle Nice and Close Tonight

Planets will dazzle skywatchers with annual get-together

(Newser) - Look out the window tonight and you'll see two planetary pals coming together for their annual rendezvous. Venus and Jupiter, which have been approaching each other for months, will finally dazzle skywatchers this week by nestling nice and close—from our perspective, in fact, just a few inches apart.... More »

Venus, Jupiter, Moon Come Together This Weekend

Stargazers will be able to see convergence around the world

(Newser) - Venus, Jupiter, and Earth's moon are coming together Saturday and Sunday to put on a brilliant show in the night sky, the AP reports. Venus and Jupiter have already been lining up, and a crescent moon will join them this weekend; stargazers will be able to see the convergence... More »

Is Jupiter's Core Dissolving?

Theory holds that midsection is slowly shrinking

(Newser) - Jupiter may be the largest planet in our solar system, but what if its massive core is actually dissolving? Jupiter's core of iron, rock, and ice is suspended in a sea of hydrogen and helium, under pressure 40 million times greater than that which we experience on Earth, and... More »

Jumping Jupiter! 5th Giant Planet Evicted Eons Ago

Theory says it got knocked out of our early solar system

(Newser) - Our young solar system may have had another huge planet that got knocked into deep space by Jupiter, reports Wired . Astronomers at the Southwest Research Institute in Texas arrived at this "Jumping Jupiter" theory because computer simulations can't figure out how our modern solar system emerged as is... More »

Venus Has Ozone Layer, Too

It joins Earth and Mars

(Newser) - Venus has joined Earth and Mars in the ozone layer club. A spacecraft from the European Space Agency detected a thin layer about 60 miles above the planet, reports the BBC . Ozone protects Earth from the sun's ultraviolet rays, and astronomers say the discovery could help fine-tune their hunt... More »

Solar System Kicked Out Extra Planet

Early ejection may have helped Earth survive

(Newser) - Thank your lucky stars that our solar system was only big enough for eight planets. Apparently a ninth one—and a gas giant, no less—was nudged out billions of years ago and made room for Earth to survive. In computer simulations of our solar system's evolution, Colorado scientist... More »

If Aliens Attack, Blame Global Warming

Humanity's rapid expansion could scare extra-terrestrials

(Newser) - If there is extraterrestrial life out there, and it's watching us, it might just as soon blow us to kingdom come as look at us, LiveScience reports—and all because of global warming. If ETs notice our greenhouse gas emissions and conclude we're expanding too rapidly, they may... More »

Scientists Find Orphan Planets Without Stars

Astronomers discover 10 in Milky Way that don't orbit another body

(Newser) - They're outcasts on a galactic scale, rebels without a star: Astronomers think they have discovered 10 massive planets that defy a standard definition of what it means to be a planet: They orbit no star. What's more, the astronomers believe there are many, many more roaming free about... More »

Four Planets Align This Month

Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter in rare convergences

(Newser) - This month, Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter will take part in a series of what Space.com calls "celestial summit meetings." The four planets will converge twice to form a "trio," defined as an instance when three planets fit in a circle with a minimum 5-degree... More »

Kepler Results Boost Chances of Finding Alien Life

For every two suns, an Earth-like planet

(Newser) - Exciting news for alien enthusiasts: The discovery by NASA scientists of a vast trove of Earth-like planets orbiting distant suns boosts our chances of finding extraterrestrial life. Findings from the Kepler telescope revealed that for every two stars in the universe, one has an Earth-like "candidate planet" orbiting it,... More »

5 New Earth-Like Planets Spotted

Hello, is anyone out there?

(Newser) - Scientists have spotted five new planets orbiting stars in our galaxy that are close to the size of Earth and are located in a "habitable zone," according to researchers. They're the right distance from their stars that make the existence of life-essential liquid water possible. The planets are... More »

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