Small and large planets have significantly different upbringings
The shape of a planet’s orbit is one of its fundamental properties, along with its size and distance from its host star. Earth has a nearly circular orbit, but some…
Can we find floating vegetation on ocean planets?
Astronomical surveys have discovered nearly 6,000 exoplanets, including many habitable planets, which may harbor liquid water on their surfaces. The search for life on such planets is one of the…
Building materials for water-rich planets in the early solar system
Age data for certain classes of meteorite have made it possible to gain new findings on the origin of small water-rich astronomical bodies in the early solar system. These so-called…
Martian meteorites deliver a trove of information on Red Planet’s structure
Mars has a distinct structure in its mantle and crust with discernible reservoirs, and this is known thanks to meteorites that scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San…
Australian study proves ‘humans are planet’s most frightening predator’
Australia lacks fearsome large carnivores like lions and wolves, and the relative lack of fear that marsupials like kangaroos and wallabies show to dogs (and other introduced carnivores) has been…
Evidence of geothermal activity within icy dwarf planets
A team co-led by Southwest Research Institute found evidence for hydrothermal or metamorphic activity within the icy dwarf planets Eris and Makemake, located in the Kuiper Belt. Methane detected on…
A carbon-lite atmosphere could be a sign of water and life on other terrestrial planets
Scientists at MIT, the University of Birmingham, and elsewhere say that astronomers’ best chance of finding liquid water, and even life on other planets, is to look for the absence,…