Tag: Outer Solar System
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Is There a Planet Nine Beyond Neptune? Mapping the Solar System’s Hidden Worlds
Beyond Neptune: The Quest for Planet Nine For generations, Neptune has stood as the outer boundary of the familiar planetary lineup. Yet modern astronomy has shifted that boundary outward, toward a potential ninth planet that may lurk far beyond the orbit of Neptune. The idea, born from patterns in the orbits of distant objects, suggests…
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Is there a Planet Nine beyond Neptune? Mapping the solar system’s hidden worlds
The Search for Planet Nine For decades, astronomers have questioned whether a ninth planet hides far beyond Neptune, tugging softly on distant icy objects. The idea, born from patterns in the Kuiper Belt and the peculiarities of scattered disk objects, suggests a massive planet well beyond Pluto that could be influencing orbits with its gravity.…
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Five Venus Missions That Could Launch in the Next Decade to Study Earth’s ‘Evil Twin’
Why Venus matters for planetary science The planet most often called Earth’s “evil twin” sits closer to the Sun and endures extreme heat, crushing atmospheric pressure, and a dense, sulfuric haze. Studying Venus helps scientists understand why a world so similar in size and composition evolved into a scorching, waterless environment. With Akatsuki now quiet,…
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Deuterated Water Ice on Saturn’s Satellites: Unveiling D/H Ratios
New JWST Detections Reveal Deuterium-Enriched Ice on Saturnian Moons The deuterium-to-hydrogen (D/H) ratio in water ice is a key tracer of how and where planetary bodies acquired their water. A recent study using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) reports robust spectroscopic detections of the 4.14 μm O-D stretch absorption on mid-sized Saturnian satellites. This…
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Rocky Giants: Reimagining Uranus and Neptune Interiors
Introduction: Rethinking the Outer-Planet Class For decades, Uranus and Neptune have been branded the solar system’s ice giants. Based on early models, scientists believed these distant worlds were dominated by frozen ices—water, ammonia, and methane—surrounding a rocky core. But fresh research is challenging this long-held label, proposing a more nuanced interior structure that could even…
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Could Saturn’s Moon Mimas Hide a Newborn Ocean? A Mission in the Making
Is Mimas Hosting a Newborn Ocean? Saturn’s moon Mimas, long famous for its ominous “Death Star” crater Herschel, may be hiding a newborn ocean beneath its icy shell. New analyses of Cassini data, combined with advances in modeling tidal heating, suggest that the moon’s ice shell could have melted recently enough to form a liquid…
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Unveiling Trapped CO2 on Saturn’s Moons: JWST Sheds Light on Ice, Organics, and Solar System Chemistry
Introduction: A New Window into Outer Solar System Chemistry The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is expanding our understanding of planetary surfaces far beyond Earth. A recent study focusing on the satellites of Saturn uses JWST spectra to identify solid-state CO2 trapped within diverse host materials across eight mid-sized moons. This work reveals that CO2…
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Hidden Planet Y: Evidence Mounts for a World Beyond Neptune
What hints point to a hidden World Beyond Neptune For decades, scientists have speculated about undiscovered worlds lurking in the outer solar system. The latest clues come from precise measurements of distant icy bodies that orbit well beyond Neptune. A team led by Amir Siraj analyzed roughly 50 Kuiper Belt objects—frozen remnants of the solar…
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Hidden Planet Y: Astronomers Find Clues in the Kuiper Belt
New Clues Point to a Hidden World Astronomers are gathering evidence that could point to a hidden planet in our solar system. In a study focusing on icy bodies far beyond Neptune, researchers found unusual tilts in their orbits that standard models cannot explain. The collective tilt pattern has led to renewed interest in the…
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Astronomers Point to Hidden Planet Y Beyond Neptune
Unseen Influences in the Outer Solar System For decades, scientists have wondered whether the outer solar system harbors a hidden planet. The latest clue comes from a careful survey of distant icy bodies beyond Neptune. Researchers analyzed roughly 50 Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) and found orbital tilts that don’t align with current models of planetary…