#planetary studies

[mindblowingscience]

New Wolf in the pack: Astronomers discover an ultra-short-period super-Earth

Using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), an international team of astronomers has discovered a new ultra-short-period exop

Using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), an international team of astronomers has discovered a new ultra-short-period exoplanet. The newfound alien world, designated Wolf 327 b, is slightly larger and about 2.5 times more massive than the Earth. The finding was reported in a paper published January 22 on the pre-print server arXiv. To date, TESS has identified over 7,000 candidate exoplanets (TESS Objects of Interest, or TOI), of which 415 have been confirmed so far. Since its launch in April 2018, the spacecraft has been conducting a survey of about 200,000 of the brightest stars near the sun with the aim of searching for transiting exoplanets—ranging from small, rocky worlds to gaseous giants.

Continue Reading.

[venusianwonders]

Valkyrie: Exploring Venus With Multiple Small Landers

Shrouded in thick clouds, our erstwhile sister planet Venus is rife with mysteries. Among the Solar System's rocky planets, Venus is the one

The Valkyrie MIssion is going to explore the Venusian surface with multiple landers

[mindblowingscience]

Intuitive Machines faces early end to moon mission after lander tips over | TechCrunch

Intuitive Machines' first lunar mission will be cut short due to the lander's position on its side, officials said Tuesday.

Intuitive Machines’ first moon mission will come to a premature end due to the spacecraft landing on its side, which altered how the solar panels are positioned in relation to the sun, the company said in an update Tuesday morning. Flight controllers were still working to determine the battery’s remaining life, which could be between 10-20 hours. The spacecraft, which landed on the moon five days ago, was expected to operate for 7-10 days.

Continue Reading.

[venusianwonders]

Hottest Planet in the solar system: Mercury closest to Sun, but shockingly, Venus beats it

Article from the Hindustan Times about why Venus is the hottest planet, despite not being the closest to the Sun

[venusianwonders]

NASA’s Magellan Data Reveals Volcanic Activity on Venus

In a first, scientists have seen direct evidence of active volcanism on Earth’s twin, setting the stage for the agency’s VERITAS mission to investigate.

Venus is found to still have volcanic activity in a study by Robert Herrick of UAF, Scott Hensley of JPL, and more.

[georgemcginn]

Uranus May Have Two Undiscovered Moons

Uranus May Have Two Undiscovered Moons

Written by Tara Roberts University of Idaho Communications For NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California  October 21, 2016 at 1:04 p.m. EDT

Uranus is seen in this false-color view from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope from August 2003. The brightness of the planet’s faint rings and dark moons has been enhanced for visibility. Image credit: NASA/Erich Karkoschka (Univ. Arizona)

  NASA’s…

View On WordPress