Dead star’s cannibalism of its planetary system is most far-reaching ever witnessed: White dwarf sheds light on the systemic chaos that occurs when a star dies
The violent death throes of a nearby star so thoroughly disrupted its planetary system that the dead star left behind — known as a white dwarf — is sucking in debris from both the system’s inner and outer reaches, UCLA astronomers and colleagues report today. This is the first case of cosmic cannibalism in which […]
Microscopic view on asteroid collisions could help us understand planet formation
A new way of dating collisions between asteroids and planetary bodies throughout our Solar System’s history could help scientists reconstruct how and when planets were born. A team of researchers, led by the University of Cambridge, combined dating and microscopic analysis of the Chelyabinsk meteorite — which fell to Earth and hit the headlines in […]
Could acid-neutralizing life-forms make habitable pockets in Venus’ clouds? A new study shows it’s theoretically possible. The hypothesis could be tested soon with proposed Venus-bound missions.
It’s hard to imagine a more inhospitable world than our closest planetary neighbor. With an atmosphere thick with carbon dioxide, and a surface hot enough to melt lead, Venus is a scorched and suffocating wasteland where life as we know it could not survive. The planet’s clouds are similarly hostile, blanketing the planet in droplets […]