solar system

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Voyager 1 Drifts Into Unknown Region of Space

NASA calls it the 'magnetic highway'

(Newser) - How to best learn about the edge of the solar system? Actually go there. NASA says its Voyager 1 spacecraft—which launched in 1977—has entered an area of the solar system that scientists didn't know about, the AP reports. "We do believe this may be the very...

Studies Illuminate the Moon's Explosive Origin

'Giant impact theory' gets a boost

(Newser) - A trio of new studies has breathed life back into a dramatic theory about the birth of the moon. Scientists have long suspected that the moon was formed when a Mars-sized planet called Theia smashed into Earth, obliterating itself and creating the moon, the LA Times explains. The problem? The...

Jupiter Takes New Hit for the Team

 Jupiter Takes New Hit 
 for the Team 
in case you missed it
Sep 15, 2012 12:43 PM CDT

Jupiter Takes New Hit for the Team

Flash believed to be collision with asteroid or comet

(Newser) - For the third time in four years, Jupiter appears to have been hit by something big enough to have done a lot of damage to our planet or any other unlucky enough to be in its way. A flash on Jupiter captured by amateur astronomers is believed to have been...

Giant Star Caught Devouring Planet

A similar fate awaits Earth, scientists say

(Newser) - Astronomers observing the Perseus constellation have caught a glimpse of the fate that awaits our own planet: digestion inside a giant star. Unusual amounts of lithium were detected inside the elderly red giant BD+48 740, and a surviving planet has shifted to a strange elliptical orbit, leading researchers to conclude...

Mars Once Had Earth-Like Oceans
 Mars Once Had 
 Earth-Like Oceans 
study says
May 7, 2012 7:34 PM CDT

Mars Once Had Earth-Like Oceans

Red planet 'was at least transiently water': Prof. Josef Dufek

(Newser) - A far denser atmosphere may have allowed Earth-like oceans to flourish on Mars billions of years ago, the Telegraph reports. Analyzing data from the Mars rover Spirit, Professor Josef Dufek of Georgia Tech University concluded that the planet's atmosphere was once 20 times denser—perfect for harboring lots of...

Methane Rains on Titan... Every 1K Years

Storms are rare, but they're doozies

(Newser) - Scientists think there are only two places in the solar system where liquid rains fall on solid land—the Earth and Saturn's moon Titan. But on Titan, that rain isn't water, it's methane, and it falls as little as once every 1,000 years in parts, according...

Oxygen Flows on Saturn's Icy Moon

Dione can't support life or liquid oceans, but check out other gas giant moons

(Newser) - Good news for future space colonists: Saturn's icy moon, Dione, contains a thin layer of oxygen that hints at life on other gas giant satellites, the BBC reports. Spotted by the Cassini spacecraft about two years ago, Dione's oxygen layer lacks the necessary density to support life and...

NASA Spots 'Alien Matter' From Beyond Solar System

Interstellar cloud unlike anything else ever analyzed

(Newser) - A cloud of material from elsewhere in the galaxy has slipped inside our solar system's protective bubble, and it is fundamentally different from anything else scientists have ever seen. The "alien matter" was spotted and analyzed by a NASA probe exploring the edge of the solar system, CBS...

Scientists Find 11 New Planetary Systems

Triples number of known multiplanetary star systems

(Newser) - The Kepler space telescope has discovered a whopping 11 new planetary systems that are home to 26 planets—thus tripling the number of stars that have more than one planet that passes in front of them and doubling the number of exoplanets confirmed by the Kepler mission. "Prior to...

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...

Small, Heavy, and Shiny— Planetoid Surprises Astronomers

Distant Eris may be more like Mercury than Pluto

(Newser) - It's been six years since distant Eris was discovered, a small planetoid that led to Pluto losing its planetary status. But since it lies three times further from the sun than Pluto, Eris was very difficult to observe and little was known about it—until now. Last year Eris...

Venus Has Ozone Layer, Too
 Venus Has Ozone Layer, Too 
Oct 7, 2011 4:29 PM CDT

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...

Solar System May Have Ejected Mystery Planet: Scientist
 Solar System 
 Kicked Out 
 Extra Planet 
scientist says
Sep 26, 2011 6:09 PM CDT

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...

NASA Probe to Blast Off, Destination: Jupiter

Juno to explore origins of the solar system; liftoff scheduled for 11:34am ET

(Newser) - Today NASA will launch a spacecraft that they're hoping will pry the secrets of the solar system from Jupiter. Dubbed "Juno" (Jupiter’s wife in Roman mythology, get it?), the probe will take five years to travel to Jupiter, arriving on July 4, 2016, the New York Times...

NASA Snaps First Shots of Mercury From Orbit

Future photos to reveal planet's unseen regions

(Newser) - A NASA spacecraft has captured the first photo of Mercury taken from orbit. The first of yesterday’s 363 images, shown at left, show the planet’s south pole. The gray surface is covered with craters, including a 53-mile-wide one known as Debussy. Other photos from the $464 million Messenger...

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,...

New Planet Sought at Edge of Solar System

Planet Tyche explains change in path of comets: researchers

(Newser) - A huge and previously undetected planet lies at the outer edge of the solar system, believe two University of Louisiana astrophysicists. The planet Tyche, a gas giant four times the size of Jupiter, likely lies in the outer Oort cloud—the most remote part of the solar system—and almost...

O'Reilly Returns to Space, Defends God-Tide Theory

Fox host asks how the Moon got there in first place, calls critics 'pinheads'

(Newser) - Over the past month, the moon has made a complete orbit around the Earth, but Bill O'Reilly is no closer to believing the science behind it. In fact, O'Reilly is expanding on his earlier claims that the tides are completely unexplainable —apparently not the result of gravitational effect of...

Voyager Nears Edge of Solar System
Voyager Nears
Edge of Solar System
Dec 14, 2010 6:36 AM CST

Voyager Nears Edge of Solar System

Spacecraft reaches region where solar winds stop

(Newser) - Some 33 years after it was launched in 1977, Voyager 1 has reached the outer edge of the solar system and is on course to become the first man-made device to sail into the vast stretches of space that lie beyond. Astronomers have confirmed that the spacecraft has reached a...

Alien Planet Discovered in Milky Way

HIP 13044B and its star originated in different galaxy

(Newser) - As planets go, HIP 13044B is one hell of a survivor. Astronomers say the planet—the first one originating from another galaxy ever found in the Milky Way—is part of a solar system that once belonged to a dwarf galaxy that was cannibalized by our own. The planet has...

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