Pluto’s atmosphere is cold and hazy. Recent observations have shown it to be much colder than predicted theoretically, suggesting an unknown cooling mechanism. Atmospheric gas molecules, particularly water vapour, have been proposed as a coolant; however, because Pluto’s thermal structure is expected to be in radiative–conductive equilibrium, the required water …
Scientists have always thought that the Sun was the most dependable body in the heavens. But with a new peak in solar activity, researchers are discovering a frightening new face of our star. As a raging ball of super-heated plasma and gas, the Sun can be violent and erratic. Researchers …
after 15 years of observation, a team of astronomers has found a planetary system that reminds us of our home solar system. Geoffrey Marcy, astronomy professor at Berkeley-based University of California, and astronomer Paul Butler of the Carnegie Institution of Washington dc, usa, have recently discovered a Jupiter-like planet orbiting …
With evidence being unearthed of huge amounts of frozen water below the surface of Mars, the likelihood of life existing on the red planet has increased. The finding made by the Mars Odyssey spacecraft of nasa has solved one of the biggest puzzles: where did the water on the planet …
Astronomers have recently discovered 11 small moons encircling Jupiter. The team of astronomers led by Scott Sheppard and David Jewitt from the University of Hawaii had previously found 11 new moons of Jupiter. This brings the total of Jupiter's satellites to 39, more than any other planet's. "We found them …
the us Mars Odyssey spacecraft has discovered massive ice fields on the planet. Scientists already know that water exists on Mars, but these latest images showing that ice may be abundant on the planet bolster theories that life exists or once existed on Mars. "The signal we have been getting …
Twelve more moons of the planet Saturn were discovered recently, making Saturn the planet with the highest number of moons in our Solar System. Observations taken by astronomers at a network of telescopes in Chile, Hawaii and Arizona, USA, suggests that 11 of the new moons come from 3 earlier …
we may not be the only ones. With the discovery of a new planet, a team of astronomers has come a step closer to finding solar systems that might have characteristics similar to our own. The team recently found a Jupiter-sized planet in a circular orbit around a faint star …
magnetic fields in space can straighten out any bending of space-time caused by gravity, shows new research. Ever since Einstein formulated his general theory of relativity, almost a century ago, it has been known that gravity bends space-time. But now, a scientist has shown how magnetic fields in space can …
titan, Saturn's largest moon, has conditions that resemble those that prevailed on the Earth before the advent of life. Now scientists have discovered that the moon has high velocity winds which blow from west to east. This new information will prove invaluable for space scientists who are planning to land …
the Sun is going to run out of fuel in about 7-8 billion years. What will happen to the planets then, especially to Earth? Research suggests, if tidal forces are taken into account, then the Earth is likely to evaporate when the Sun treads towards its death ( Icarus , …
the turning point in the history of planetary exploration came in 1976. Two Viking crafts, launched by the us, tested the soil on Mars for microorganisms. Unfortunately, they found none. Scientists concluded that life did not exist on Mars, or at least on the parts of the planet where the …
Astronomers have used a high-resolution spectrograph at the Keck I telescope, in the us, to obtain the spectra of the atmosphere of Venus and reported a strong green line emission. Studying the composition of planetary atmospheres is crucial to understanding their evolution and structure. One way to do it is …
Minute traces of specially designed greenhouse gases can be used to heat up Mars and make the planet habitable much faster than anyone thought possible. "On the Earth these gases may be pollution, but on Mars they are medicine,' says Chris McKay, who organised a meeting at the National Aeronautics …
Four more moons have been discovered in the past two months orbiting Saturn, bringing the total to 22, which is more than any other planet in the Solar System. This was announced by Matt Holman of the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Holman says that the moons are …
ten new planets have been discovered outside the earth's solar system. The discoveries of these planets has increased the tally of the total confirmed planets to around 50. At least six of the 10 new planets were discovered by a Geneva-led team of astronomers, while three were discovered by three …
Astronomers analysing images of Uranus from the Hubble Space Telescope have found two tiny moons orbiting the planet. The finding supports a theory that the moons
in 1995, when astronomers "discovered' an extrasolar planet orbiting the star 51 Pegasi, it was considered to be a scientific breakthrough. Since then, at least 30 extrasolar planets have been discovered. Invariably, their presence is deduced from the tiny gravitational effect that they have on the orbit of the parent …
For the first time, scientists have been able to "see' another planet outside the solar system. On the night of November 7, the shadow of a planet was observed directly in front of a distant star named HD 209458. The transit was predicted by G Marcy of the University of …
A team of scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, has successfully recreated the conditions inside the planets Neptune and Uranus. They managed to squeeze a tiny sample of methane to pressures that are 500,000 times the atmospheric pressure and heated the sample to almost 3,000
