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Hubble Spots Pitch Black Hot Jupiter that “Eats Light” The study of extra-solar planets has revealed discoveries that have confounded expectations and boggled the mind! Whether it’s Super-Earths that become diamond planets, multiple rocky planets orbiting closely together, or “Hot Jupiters” with traces of gaseous metal in their atmospheres, there’s been no shortage of planets out there for which there is no comparison here in the Solar System. In this respect, WASP-12b is in good company. This Hot-Jupiter, located in a star system 1400 light years from Earth in the direction of the Auriga constellation, was recently studied by a team of astronomers using theRead More →

Loss of Signal: Cassini Spacecraft Plunges Into Saturn Until the very end, Cassini displayed just how robust and enduring this spacecraft has been throughout its entire 20 years in space and its 13-year mission at Saturn. As Cassini plummeted through the ringed-planet’s atmosphere, its thrusters fought the good fight to keep the antenna pointed at Earth for as long as possible, sending as much of the last drops of science data as it could. Cassini endured about 40 seconds longer than expected before loss of signal was called at 11:55:46 UTC “I hope you’re all deeply proud as this accomplishment,” said Cassini Project Manager EarlRead More →

Cassini: The Mission That Will Live Forever “With Cassini, we had a rare opportunity and we seized it,” said Linda Spilker, Cassini Mission Scientist. And on Friday, September 15, we say goodbye to this incredible spacecraft. Since 2004, Cassini has been orbiting Saturn, exploring the magnificent gas giant planet while weaving through an incredibly diverse assortment of 60-plus icy moons, and skimming along the edges of the complex but iconic icy rings. Scan the rings from the inside with @CassiniSaturn on September 9th#CassiniInspires pic.twitter.com/vVxtdtaPZM — Kevin M. Gill (@kevinmgill) September 11, 2017 Cassini’s findings have revolutionized our understanding of the entire Saturn system, providing intriguingRead More →

Russian-American Trio Blasts Off and Boards International Space Station After Fast Track Trajectory The Soyuz MS-06 rocket blasts off with the Expedition 53-54 crew towards the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017 (Wednesday, Sept. 13, Kazakh time). Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls Barely a week and a half after the thrilling conclusion to the record breaking space endurance mission by NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, a new Russian-American trio blasted off for the International Space Station (ISS) on a Russian Soyuz capsule and boarded safely early this morning Wednesday, Sept 13. after arriving as planned on a fast track orbital trajectory.Read More →

Three Possible Super-Earths Discovered Around Nearby Sun-Like Star Since it was launched in 2009, NASA’s Kepler mission has continued to make important exoplanet discoveries. Even after the failure of two reaction wheels, the space observatory has found new life in the form of its K2 mission. All told, this space observatory has detected 5,017 candidates and confirmed the existence of 2,494 exoplanets using the Transit Method during its past eight years in service. The most recent discovery was made by an international team of astronomers around Gliese 9827 (GJ 9827), a late K-type dwarf star located about 100 light-years from Earth. Using data provided byRead More →

This Weekend: The Moon Photobombs ‘Planet-palooza’ at Dawn The planetary lineup at dawn (minus the Moon) from September 12th. Image credit and copyright: Alan Dyer (AmazingSky.com). Following the Moon and wondering where are the fleeting inner solar system planets are this month? While Jupiter and Saturn sink into the dusk on the far side of the Sun this month, the real action transpires in the dawn sky in mid-September, with a complex set of early morning conjunctions, groupings and occultations. First, let’s set the stage for the planetary drama. Mercury just passed greatest elongation 18 degrees west of the Sun on September 12th. The actionRead More →