Astronomers have, for the first time, captured a detailed snapshot of planetary systems in an era long shrouded in mystery. The ALMA survey to Resolve exoKuiper belt Substructures (ARKS), using […]
Kuiper Belt
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Comets and Asteroids, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
SPHERE’s Debris Disk Gallery: Tell-tale Signs Of Dust And Small Bodies In Distant Solar Systems
Observations with the instrument SPHERE at ESO’s Very Large Telescope have produced an unprecedented gallery of “debris disks” in exoplanetary systems. Gaël Chauvin (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy), project scientist […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Interstellar, Status Report
Implications For The Formation Of Oort Cloud-like Structures And Interstellar Comets In Dense Environments
Most stars form in dense stellar environments, where frequent close encounters can strongly perturb and reshape the early architecture of planetary systems.
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Budgets and Policy, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Policy, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
Stellar Cartography: A Demonstration Of Interstellar Navigation Using New Horizons
Editor’s note: Those of you in the space community know that NASA Science is facing an immense budget cut. Dozens of missions have been cancelled and many missions that are […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Water Ice In The Debris Disk Around HD 181327
Debris disks are exoplanetary systems that contain planets, minor bodies (i.e., asteroids, Kuiper belt objects, comets, etc.), and micron-sized debris dust.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Webb Identifies Frozen Water in Young Star System HD 181327
Is frozen water scattered in systems around other stars? Astronomers have long expected it is, partially based on previous detections of its gaseous form, water vapor, and its presence in […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Evidence for Surprising Heavy Nitrogen Isotopic Enrichment in Comet 46P/Wirtanen’s Hydrogen Cyanide
46P/Wirtanen is a Jupiter-family comet, probably originating from the Solar System’s Kuiper belt, that now resides on a 5.4 year elliptical orbit. During its 2018 apparition, comet 46P passed unusually […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Press Release
Our Outer Solar System Is More Populated With Icy Worlds Than We Thought
Observations of the outer Solar System with the Subaru Telescope have discovered new bodies where none were expected. The new objects are likely members of a much larger population waiting […]
Posted inIcy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Neptune, Pluto, Saturn, Status Report, Triton, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Twin Worlds, Divergent Fates: How Obliquity has Differently Shaped Pluto’s and Triton’s Landscapes and Climates
Triton and Pluto are believed to share a common origin, both forming initially in the Kuiper Belt but Triton being later captured by Neptune. Both objects display similar sizes, densities, […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Impact events, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release
Meteor Showers Shed Light on Where Comets Formed in the Early Solar System
An international team of 45 researchers studying meteor showers has found that not all comets crumble the same way when they approach the Sun. In a paper published in the […]