RAS_WEB (Page 4,094)

Project Blue: Building a Space Telescope that Could Directly Observe Planets Around Alpha Centauri In the past few decades, thousands of exoplanets have been discovered in neighboring star systems. In fact, as of October 1st, 2017, some 3,671 exoplanets have been confirmed in 2,751 systems, with 616 systems having more than one planet. Unfortunately, the vast majority of these have been detected using indirect means, ranging from Gravitational Microlensing to Transit Photometry and the Radial Velocity Method. What’s more, we have been unable to study these planets up close because the necessary instruments do not yet exist. Project Blue, a consortium of scientists, universities andRead More →

Has the First Interstellar Comet Been Discovered? Astronomers from the Minor Planet Center sent out an announcement today, hoping for astronomers to do followup observations on the comet C/2017 U1 PANSTARRS. That’s because this strange comet seems to be on a trajectory that originated outside our Solar System. Not just from the Oort Cloud, but from another star. Is this the first interplanetary comet ever found? Orbital path of C 2017/U1 PANSTARRS Comets are broken up into two broad categories. There are the short-period comets, the ones that started out in the Kuiper Belt and follow a regular, predictable orbit that brings them close toRead More →

Neptune-Sized Exomoon Found Orbiting a Jupiter-Sized Planet? Finding planets beyond our Solar System is already tough, laborious work. But when it comes to confirmed exoplanets, an even more challenging task is determining whether or not these worlds have their own satellites – aka. “exomoons”. Nevertheless, much like the study of exoplanets themselves, the study of exomoons presents some incredible opportunities to learn more about our Universe. Of all possible candidates, the most recent (and arguably, most likely) one was announced back in July 2017. This moon, known as Kepler-1625 b-i, orbits a gas giant roughly 4,000 light years from Earth. But according to a newRead More →

Water Worlds Don’t Stay Wet for Very Long When hunting for potentially habitable exoplanets, one of the most important things astronomers look for is whether or not exoplanet candidates orbit within their star’s habitable zone. This is necessary for liquid water to exist on a planet’s surface, which in turn is a prerequisite for life as we know it. However, in the course of discovering new exoplanets, scientists have become aware of an extreme case known as “water worlds“. Water worlds are essentially planets that are up to 50% water in mass, resulting in surface oceans that could be hundreds of kilometers deep. According toRead More →

What is an Electric Sail? Another Exotic Way to Explore the Solar System We’re all familiar with the idea of solar sails to explore the Solar System, using the light pressure from the Sun. But there’s another propulsion system that could harness the power of the Sun, electric sails, and it’s a pretty exciting idea. A few weeks ago, I tackled a question someone had about my favorite exotic propulsion systems, and I rattled off a few ideas that I find exciting: solar sails, nuclear rockets, ion engines, etc. But there’s another propulsion system that keeps coming up, and I totally forgot to mention, butRead More →

You Can Now Use Google Maps to Explore the Solar System Chances are, at one time or another, we’ve all used Google Maps to find the shortest route from point A to point B. But if you are like some people, you’ve used this mapping tool to have a look at geographical features or places you hope to visit someday. In an age where digital technology is allowing for telecommuting and even telepresence, it’s nice to take virtual tours of the places we may never get to see in person. But now, Google Maps is using its technology to enable the virtual exploration of somethingRead More →