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October 8, 2008 5:17:44 AM CDT

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Stories related to: solar system

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12 Stories

  • July 2008

    • Moon Rocks Still Giving Up Gritty Secrets

      New York Times  |  Jul 8, 08 6:00 AM CDT

      Moon Rocks Still Giving Up Gritty Secrets

      (Newser) - Almost 40 years after Apollo astronauts brought samples of the moon back to Earth, the extraterrestrial rocks are still yielding new information, the New York Times reports. In addition to attention from the Johnson Space Center, where they reside, samples are mailed out—on loan only, and usually less than a gram—to 40 or 50 research groups around the world each year. More »

      Tags

      moon  • solar system  • geology  • Apollo missions  • lunar exploration  • crater  • moon rock

    • Mercury Is Shrinking

      Los Angeles Times  |  Jul 3, 08 6:35 PM CDT

      Mercury Is Shrinking

      (Newser) - The planet Mercury is shrinking, the LA Times reports. Data from NASA’s Mercury Messenger spacecraft reveal that the planet’s diameter has shrunk by a mile over its history, probably because its core is cooling. Messenger flew in for a close-up in January, and scientists are now piecing together the new information and re-evaluating some long-held beliefs about the planet. More »

      Tags

      NASA  • Earth  • planet  • solar system  • scientist  • Mercury  • magnetic field  • molten rock

    • Earth Hits Cosmic Pitch

      Space.com  |  Jul 1, 08 3:55 PM CDT

      Earth Hits Cosmic Pitch

      (Newser) - Earth’s atmosphere produces a natural sound and beams it off into the universe, Space.com reports. The sound—a painful series of chirps and whistles—is made by the collision of charged particles from the solar wind with Earth’s magnetic field. More »

      Tags

      space  • radio  • Earth  • aliens  • solar system  • radiation  • sound  • solar wind

  • June 2008

    • There's a Huge Moon on the Rise

      LiveScience  |  Jun 17, 08 4:59 PM CDT

      There's a Huge Moon on the Rise

      (Newser) - Northern Hemisphere residents, check out the night sky tomorrow for an extra-large-looking moon. The moon illusion—a trick our brain plays on us—is enhanced by the summer solstice, and when Earth's satellite rises close to the horizon, conditions are perfect, LiveScience notes. More »

      Tags

      space  • astronomy  • Earth  • moon  • solar system  • illusion

  • March 2008

    • Saturn Moon Holds Recipe for Life

      Reuters  |  Mar 27, 08 9:27 AM CDT

      Saturn Moon Holds Recipe for Life

      (Newser) - Basic components of life like heat, organic chemicals, and water have been found on a Saturn moon, Reuters reports. A spacecraft flying over Enceladus this month spotted 500-mile-high geysers spouting off its surface, containing water vapor and the organic molecules found in living things. Though no one’s saying there’s life on Enceladus, later missions will look for liquid water under its surface. More »

      Tags

      space  • moon  • extraterrestrial life  • solar system  • Saturn  • organic compounds

  • February 2008

    • New Solar System Sparks Hope for Other Life

      Daily Telegraph (UK)  |  Feb 15, 08 4:10 AM CST

      New Solar System Sparks Hope for Other Life

      (Newser) - Excited astronomers say that the discovery of a solar system with strong similarities to our own raises the chances of other life out there. The system has two gas giants similar to Jupiter and Saturn orbiting at a similar distance from the alien sun 5,000 light years away, and rocky, Earth-like planets may exist in closer orbits, reseachers write in the journal Science. More »

      Tags

      space  • astronomy  • extraterrestrial life  • planet  • solar system

  • January 2008

    • Mercury 'Spider Crater' Spotted

      Space.com  |  Jan 31, 08 10:19 AM CST

      Mercury 'Spider Crater' Spotted

      (Newser) - NASA's first probe to Mercury in more than 30 years has made some spectacular finds, including a mysterious new crater dubbed "the spider," Space.com reports. The network of cracks radiating from the impact crater photographed by the probe is like nothing else ever seen in the solar system. "Our little craft has returned a gold mine of exciting data," said the chief scientist. More »

      Tags

      NASA  • solar system  • Mercury  • crater  • volcanic activity  • Messenger

  • December 2007

    • Solar System Is Dented: Voyager

      Space.com  |  Dec 11, 07 9:18 AM CST

      Solar System Is Dented: Voyager

      (Newser) - Far out in space, a violent boundary zone marks the point where our solar system ends and outer space begins. NASA's Voyager 2 has now confirmed what its sister ship indicated: that this region is squashed and uneven, Space.com reports. This shock wave "sloshes back and forth like surf on a beach," says a scientist. "There's something outside pushing in." More »

      Tags

      NASA  • space  • solar system  • solar wind

  • November 2007

    • Planet Found Orbiting Star

      Space.com  |  Nov 6, 07 10:28 PM CST

      Planet Found Orbiting Star

      (Newser) - Astronomers have found a planet that’s at least 45 times the size of Earth orbiting a star 41 light years away, Space.com reports. The giant ball of gas is the fifth planet discovered around the star 55 Cancri. And while it's not a "twin of our solar system," it is the first outside our own to have five known planets. More »

      Tags

      space  • astronomy  • planet  • solar system

  • September 2007

    • NASA Launches Asteroid Rocket

      Associated Press  |  Sep 27, 07 10:30 AM CDT

      NASA Launches Asteroid Rocket

      (Newser) - This morning NASA launched a spacecraft that's headed to the asteroid belt, where it will get a close-up look at the belt's largest bodies, asteroid Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres.  It's NASA’s first multi-target mission, and Dawn, which one engineer called “the first real interplanetary spaceship,” could tell scientists much about the early solar system. More »

      Tags

      NASA  • solar system  • asteroid

    • When the Sun Dies, Earth Might Not

      New York Times  |  Sep 13, 07 3:32 AM CDT

      When the Sun Dies, Earth Might Not

      (Newser) - When the Sun begins to kick out in some 5 billion years, it might not take Earth with it, reports the New York Times. Scientists are more optimistic since discovering a planet that survived a similar situation. A lack of hydrogen fuel is expected to cause the Sun to expand 100-fold into a "red giant," enveloping Mercury and Venus and wiping out human life. More »

      Tags

      Earth  • planet  • solar system  • sun  • life

  • May 2007

    • Crop of New Planets Means Better Chance of Life

      Reuters  |  May 29, 07 7:07 AM CDT

      Crop of New Planets Means Better Chance of Life

      (Newser) - Astronomers who've spotted 28 new planets in the past year are gaining confidence that other solar systems may be able to support life like ours. One researcher estimated that there are probably "tens of billions" of planets with habitable conditions, most important of which is hospitality to water. More »

      Tags

      space  • astronomy  • planet  • solar system  • universe  • exoplanet

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