Astronomers simulate hidden minor planets across the Galaxy
Researchers modeled how planets smaller than Earth formed and changed over the first billion years of their existence. They found these…
Category: Space
Searching for the first supernovae in the universe
Astronomers developed new theoretical models for how stars evolve that suggest the JWST could glimpse the oldest stars in the universe…
Why do galaxies shrink?
An astronomer studying the 3 main processes that cause galaxies to lose mass found that the dominant process depends on the size and age of…
Why the Milky Way is shaped like a spiral
A team of astronomers reconstructed a 3-part history of the Milky Way Galaxy by comparing the physics and chemistry of 10 million red giant…
Exoplanets with weird orbits might be more habitable
Astronomers modeled the ideal climatic and atmospheric conditions for exoplanets and found that planets with non-circular orbits had more…
Could life survive in the plumes of Enceladus?
Researchers showed that simple microorganisms could survive rapid boiling in conditions mimicking the geysers of water shooting out of…
Astronomers discover new rare hot Neptunes
Scientists discovered 2 new examples of medium-sized, closely-orbiting exoplanets whose characteristics shed light on how planetary systems…
Could tardigrades survive on Mars?
Researchers found tiny, indestructible “water bears” survived exposure to high levels of toxic salts similar to those found in Martian…
Machine learning has its limits when studying hard-to-see galaxies
Scientists in South America and Italy found that a machine-learning algorithm astronomers commonly use to analyze large datasets classified…
How did Saturn’s moon Titan get its haze?
Researchers found that meteoroids ejected from Enceladus could impact Titan’s atmosphere to form its iconic organic haze.