Tag: solar system formation
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Did Theia Start as a Neighbor? Reassessing the Moon’s Origins
Introduction: A cosmic origin story under new light For decades, the prevailing narrative about our Moon’s birth has centered on a colossal early collision—Earth smacking into a Mars-sized body called Theia. The aftermath, scientists agree, produced a disk of debris that coalesced into the Moon. But recent studies are revisiting the very beginning of this…
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Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Brightens as It Zooms Past the Sun: Blue Light Cues New Study
Overview: A Rare Visitor from Beyond Our Solar System Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS has captured the imagination of astronomers and space enthusiasts alike as it follows a path that takes it around the Sun’s gravity. A newly published study confirms that the object brightened rapidly as it approached perihelion, the closest point to the Sun, and…
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Proto Earth Unearthed: Scientists Find 4.5-Billion-Year-Old Chemical Signature
New Evidence of Proto Earth Emerges from Ancient Rocks Geologists have taken a significant step in understanding Earth’s earliest chapter. A collaboration led by researchers at MIT and several international institutions has identified a chemical signature in ancient rocks that may be the first direct clue to the planet’s primordial composition. Published in Nature Geosciences,…
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Are Uranus and Neptune Rocky Giants? New Research Suggests
New findings shake up the ‘ice giant’ label For decades, scientists have labeled Uranus and Neptune as the solar system’s “ice giants,” a description rooted in early models of planetary formation. Those models imagined vast interiors rich in water, ammonia, and other volatile ices that would freeze under the frigid conditions of the outer solar…
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Rocky Giants: New Findings Reframe Uranus and Neptune Interiors
New Research Challenges the Classic ‘Ice Giants’ Label For decades, Uranus and Neptune have been classified as the Solar System’s “ice giants.” The name implied interiors dominated by water, ammonia, and other ices that solidify under extreme cold. But a bold new approach is turning this idea on its head. In a pre‑print study accepted…
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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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A Billion-Year Secret: Liquid Water Shaped Ryugu, Shocking Scientists
New Evidence That Liquid Water Traveled Through Ryugu A storm of new findings from a team including researchers at the University of Tokyo suggests that liquid water once moved through the body of the asteroid that became the near-Earth Ryugu. What makes the discovery remarkable is the timing: this activity appears to have persisted more…