Tag: solar system
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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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Aging stars destroy their planets: What this means for Earth
Red giants and planetary doom: a clearer picture Astronomers using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) have sharpened our understanding of how aging stars—specifically red giants—interact with their orbiting planets. As stars exhaust their nuclear fuel, they swell into red giants, their outer layers puffing up and reaching farther into the surrounding planetary system. Recent…
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Io’s Hidden Heat: Jupiter’s Volcanic Moon Reveals Surprising Heat Levels
Io’s Fiery Heart Revealed by Juno Data Jupiter’s moon Io has long held a reputation as the solar system’s most volcanic world. Now, new analyses of data from NASA’s Juno spacecraft suggest that Io may be hundreds of times hotter at its surface than scientists previously estimated. The findings, while nuanced, point to a moon…
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Io’s Heat Surprise: Jupiter’s Volcanic Moon Warmer Than Thought
Io’s Hidden Heat: A New Look at Jupiter’s Volcanic Moon For decades, Jupiter’s moon Io has been recognized as the most volcanically active body in our solar system. Famed for hundreds of active volcanoes and lava flows, Io has long intrigued scientists curious about how such a small world can sustain so much geological pizzazz.…
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Two Galilean Shadows: Io and Europa Darken Jupiter’s Clouds on Nov. 5
Introduction: A rare celestial alignment In the early hours after midnight on November 5, observers with even modest telescopes will be treated to a striking astronomical moment: the silhouettes of two of Jupiter’s Galilean moons, Io and Europa, crossing the giant planet’s disk and casting dark shadows onto its cloud tops. This event, driven by…
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Titan’s Frigid Chemistry Defies a Core Rule: Like Dissolves Like Breaks Down
Titan’s Surprising Chemistry under Frigid Conditions In the hollowed reaches of the outer solar system, Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, harbors a world of ice-coated lakes and a dense, nitrogen-rich atmosphere. Recent research reveals a surprising twist: at Titan’s extreme cold, common rules about how molecules dissolve—the so-called “like dissolves like” principle—do not always apply. This…
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When Water Meets Oil: Titan’s Exotic Chemistry Opens a Solar System Frontier
The Big Idea: Water and Oil On Titan On Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, the cold surface and strange liquids create an environment that challenges our Earth-centric ideas about chemistry. Titan is famous for its methane-ethane lakes and rivers. But beneath the ice shell may lie a hidden reality: water ice behaving like rock, and an…
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Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Brightens as it Passes Behind the Sun: New Study Details Its Fiery Perihelion
Overview: A Rare Visitor with a Blue Glow The interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS has captivated astronomers and space enthusiasts alike as it journeyed through the inner solar system. A new study analyzes its rapid brightening as the comet zipped behind the Sun, reaching perihelion—the closest point to the Sun—on Thursday, October 30. Unlike comets born in…
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New Gaia Data Sheds Light on Chaotic Asteroid Spins
Understanding the Mystery of Asteroid Rotations Asteroids are not simple spinning tops. A new study led by Wen-Han Zhou from the University of Tokyo leverages the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission data to decode why some asteroids spin smoothly around their largest axis while others tumble chaotically. Presented at the joint Europlanet Science Congress and…
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Why Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Nears the Sun on October 29 Matters for Science
Overview: A rare interstellar visitor makes a Sun-close pass On 29 October 2025, the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS will reach its closest approach to the Sun, a moment that has captivated astronomers around the world. This event is not just a curious misfit in the solar system’s crowd; it is one of the few chances we…