Orbiting

While many Earth-based experiments have been run to try to detect dark matter, the mysterious substance remains elusive. Now physicists have proposed a new experiment that would try to find signals by sending atomic clocks to where dark matter should be at its most dense – right near the Sun.The matter we see all around us every day only makes up about 15% of the mass in the universe. The other 85% is attributed to a strange, invisible substance that doesn’t reflect or emit light, hence its spooky-sounding name of dark…

Stars shine by the process of nuclear fusion in which lighter atoms, such as hydrogen, fuse together to create heavier ones. All stars, including the Sun, have a finite lifetime. Stars shine by the process of nuclear fusion in which lighter atoms, such as hydrogen, fuse together to create heavier ones. This process releases vast quantities of energy which counteracts the ever-present inward pull of the star's gravity. Ultimately, fusion helps stars to resist gravitational collapse. This balance of forces is called…

PTI Birmingham (UK), October 29 All stars, including the Sun, have a finite lifetime. Stars shine by the process of nuclear fusion in which lighter atoms, such as hydrogen, fuse together to create heavier ones. This process releases vast quantities of energy which counteracts the ever-present inward pull of the star's gravity. Ultimately, fusion helps stars to resist gravitational collapse. This balance of forces is called…

Artist impression of an ultra fluffy gas giant planet orbiting a red dwarf star. A gas giant exoplanet with the density of a marshmallow has been detected in orbit around a cool red dwarf star by the NASA-funded NEID radial-velocity instrument on the 3.5-meter WIYN Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. The planet, named TOI-3757 b, is the fluffiest gas giant planet ever discovered around this type of star. Credit: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva/Spaceengine/M. ZamaniKitt Peak National…

Astronomers have discovered a strange “marshmallow” world 580 light-years away from Earth. The planet, which orbits a red dwarf star, is believed to be the lowest-density gas giant we have ever detected. Astronomers observed the unusual planet, which can be seen in an artist’s impression shared by NOIRLab above, using the WIYN 3.5-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. During their observations, the astronomers noted that the marshmallow world, as many have come to think of it, appeared to be far…

To date, 5,084 extrasolar planets have been confirmed in 3,811 planetary systems, with another 8,912 candidates awaiting confirmation.These discoveries have provided astronomers with a detailed sampling of the types of planets that exist in our Universe, ranging from gas giants several times the size of Jupiter to smaller, rocky bodies like Earth.So far, the vast majority of these have been discovered using indirect methods – like the Transit Method (Transit Photometry) and the Radial Velocity Method (Doppler…

NASA has discovered a new mini-moon on the outskirts of our solar system. The tiny satellite was first noticed by Lucy in March of this year. Lucy, NASA’s asteroid-study spacecraft, has observed multiple asteroids over the past several months. The tiny moon was discovered when an asteroid it was watching passed in front of a star. NASA found a mini-moon orbiting an asteroid on the outer rim of the solar system An instrument being installed on NASA’s new asteroid probe. Image source: NASA/ASUScientists…

Researchers have suggested a new way to detect planets that orbit around dead stars known as Cataclysmic Variables (CVs), which are essentially binary star systems that have two stars in extreme proximity to each other. The lack of distance between them leads to one star drawing material from the other, thereby dimming the second star. The researchers measured the changes in the brightness of four CVs — LU Camelopardalis, QZ Serpentis, V1007 Herculis, and BK Lyncis — as part of the study.According to the Royal…

China added a laboratory to its permanent orbiting space station Monday as…

Have you heard of LU Camelopardalis, QZ Serpentis, V1007 Herculis, and BK Lyncis? No, they're not members of a boy band in ancient Rome. They're Cataclysmic Variables, binary stars that are so close together one star draws material from its sibling. This causes the pair to vary wildly in brightness.  Can planets exist in this chaotic environment? Can we spot them? A new study answers yes to both.Cataclysmic Variables (CVs) undergo large increases in brightness. All stars vary in brightness to some degree, even our own…