Tag Archive for 'Gas giant'

This illustration depicts Kepler-51 and its three giant planets. Image credit: NASA / ESA / L. Hustak, J. Olmsted, D. Player & F. Summers, STScI.

Astronomers Discover Fourth Exoplanet in Kepler-51 System

Dec 3, 2024 by Natali Anderson

Kepler-51 is a 500-million-year-old G-type star hosting four low density planets, according to a new paper published in the Astronomical Journal. This...

A false-color ultraviolet image of the entire planet, showing the hood or cap of hydrocarbon haze that covers the south pole; the edge of the north polar hood is visible at the top. Image credit: Troy Tsubota & Michael Wong, University of California, Berkeley.

Astronomers Observe Transient Ultraviolet-Dark Polar Ovals on Jupiter

Nov 27, 2024 by News Staff

These Earth-size ovals at Jupiter’s north and south poles are visible only at ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths, and appear and disappear seemingly at random,...

An artistic interpretation of the IRAS 04125+2902 system. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / R. Hurt & K. Miller, Caltech & IPAC.

Astronomers Discover Youngest Transiting Exoplanet

Nov 20, 2024 by News Staff

Astronomers have discovered a transiting exoplanet — named IRAS 04125+2902b — orbiting a 3-million-year-old, 0.7-solar-mass protostar in...

At an estimated mass of 5 Jupiter masses, NIRISS-NGC1333-5 (also known as NN5) is a good candidate to be the lowest-mass object found in NGC 1333 thus far and the lowest-mass object with a disk in any region identified to date. Image credit: Langeveld et al., doi: 10.3847/1538-3881/ad6f0c.

Webb Discovers Six Free-Floating Exoplanets in NGC 1333

Aug 27, 2024 by News Staff

Using the Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) instrument on the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered...

This image of Epsilon Indi Ab was taken with the coronagraph on Webb’s MIRI instrument. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / STScI / E. Matthews, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy.

Webb Directly Images Temperate Super-Jupiter around Epsilon Indi A

Jul 24, 2024 by News Staff

Astronomers using Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) have imaged Epsilon Indi Ab, a gas giant several times the mass of Jupiter located around 12...

An artist’s impression of TIC 241249530b. Image credit: NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / J. da Silva, Spaceengine.

Astronomers Find Young Hot Jupiter on Super-Eccentric, Retrograde Orbit

Jul 17, 2024 by News Staff

Astronomers have discovered an exoplanet five times the mass of Jupiter that makes a very peculiar orbit around its star. An artist’s impression of TIC...

An artist’s impression of the hot-Jupiter exoplanet HD 189733b. Image credit: Roberto Molar Candanosa / Johns Hopkins University.

Webb Detects Hydrogen Sulfide in Atmosphere of Hot Jupiter

Jul 8, 2024 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have detected trace amounts of hydrogen sulfide in the atmosphere of the Jupiter-sized exoplanet...

This graphic shows the region observed by Webb: first its location on a NIRCam image of the whole planet (left), and the region itself (right), imaged by Webb’s Near-InfraRed Spectrograph (NIRSpec). Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / Jupiter ERS Team / J. Schmidt / H. Melin / M. Zamani, ESA & Webb.

Webb Observes Intricate Structures in Ionosphere of Jupiter

Jun 25, 2024 by News Staff

Jupiter’s upper atmosphere is composed of a neutral thermosphere and charged ionosphere. Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope...

Drawing of the Permanent Spot by G.D. Cassini, January 19, 1672. Image credit: Sánchez-Lavega et al., doi: 10.1029/2024GL108993.

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot Is Not Permanent Spot Reported by Cassini, New Study Suggests

Jun 18, 2024 by News Staff

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is probably the best known atmospheric feature and a popular icon among solar system objects. Its large oval shape, contrasted...

This composite image, derived from data collected by the JIRAM instrument aboard NASA’s Juno orbiter, shows the central cyclone at Jupiter’s north pole and the eight cyclones that encircle it. JIRAM collects data in infrared, and the colors in this composite represent radiant heat: the yellow (thinner) clouds are about 9 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 13 degrees Celsius) in brightness temperature and the dark red (thickest) are around minus 181 degrees Fahrenheit (83 degrees Celsius). Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / ASI / INAF / JIRAM.

Jupiter’s Polar Cyclones are Fueled by Processes Similar to Those Acting on Earth: Study

Jun 10, 2024 by News Staff

Planetary scientists first made the connection between Earth and Jupiter in 2018 when they noticed a striking similarity between images of Jupiter’s...

These views of Jupiter, captured by Juno during its 59th close flyby of the giant planet on March 7, 2024, provide a good look at Jupiter’s colorful belts and swirling storms, including the Great Red Spot. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Gerald Eichstädt.

Amalthea: Juno Captures Solar System’s Reddest Object

May 15, 2024 by News Staff

NASA’s Juno orbiter captured these views of the tiny, red moon Amalthea and its parent planet and during a close flyby on March 7, 2024. These views...

An artist’s impression of a hot-Jupiter exoplanet. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Astronomers Discover New Cotton-Candy Exoplanet: WASP-193b

May 14, 2024 by News Staff

Gas giant exoplanets around bright nearby stars provide crucial insights into planetary system formation and evolution mechanisms. Most of these planets...

This artist’s concept shows what WASP-43b could look like. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Ralf Crawford, STScI.

Webb Maps Weather on Hot Jupiter WASP-43b

Apr 30, 2024 by News Staff

WASP-43b is cloudy on the nightside and clear on the dayside, with equatorial winds howling around the planet at 8,050 km per hour (5,000 mph). This artist’s...

An artist’s impression of the rainbow-like ‘glory effect’ in the atmosphere of WASP-76b. Image credit: ESA.

Astronomers Detect Rainbow-Like ‘Glory’ in Atmosphere of WASP-76b

Apr 5, 2024 by Natali Anderson

Using data from ESA’s Characterising ExOplanet Satellite (CHEOPS) and several other ESA and NASA missions, astronomers have detected signs of the rainbow-like...

Jupiter is revisited by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope in these images, taken on January 5-6, 2024, capturing both sides of the giant planet. Image credit: NASA / ESA / STScI / Amy Simon, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Hubble Space Telescope Captures Beautiful New Images of Jupiter

Mar 14, 2024 by News Staff

The many large storms and small white clouds seen in the new Hubble images, taken on January 5 and 6, 2024, are evidence for a lot of activity going on...

The JunoCam instrument aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft imaged Io, the most geologically active body in our Solar System, on February 3, 2024, from a distance of about 7,904 km (4,911 miles). Image credit: NASA / SwRI / MSSS.

NASA’s Juno Orbiter Captures Stunning Images of Jupiter’s Moon Io

Feb 9, 2024 by Natali Anderson

On February 3, 2024, NASA’s Juno spacecraft made a second close flyby of Io, the fifth of Jupiter’s moons and the third largest. Like the previous...

Mimas’ surface, like the surfaces of most of the other major Saturnian moons without atmospheres, is not pure ice but contains some dark impurities; the relatively dark markings appear along the lower portion of the walls of the 130-km-wide Herschel Crater (the peak in the middle of the crater is about as tall as Mount Everest; the impact that made it likely almost destroyed the moon) and some of the smaller craters; scientists interpret this darkening as evidence for the gradual concentration of impurities from evaporating icy materials in areas where the dark impurities slide slowly down the crater wall. Image credit: NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute.

Saturn’s Moon Mimas Harbors Global Ocean beneath Its Icy Shell, Study Suggests

Feb 7, 2024 by News Staff

From detailed analysis of Mimas’ orbital motion based on data from NASA’s Cassini mission, planetary researchers from Sorbonne Université, Nantes...

This artist’s illustration shows WASP-121b, an alien world that is losing magnesium and iron gas from its atmosphere. Image credit: NASA / ESA / J. Olmsted, STScI.

Hubble Detects Massive Cyclones in Atmosphere of WASP-121b

Jan 10, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have detected massive cyclones and other dynamic weather activity swirling on WASP-121b, an ultrahot-Jupiter...

This Hubble image shows Saturn, its bright white rings, and its three moons: Mimas, Dione, and Enceladus; spoke features on the left and right sides of the rings appear like faint gray smudges against the rings’ bright backdrop, about midway from the planet to the rings’ outer edge. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / STScI / Amy Simon, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Hubble Space Telescope Spots ‘Spokes’ in Saturn’s Rings

Dec 21, 2023 by News Staff

The gas giant Saturn is known for its iconic ring system. However, its B ring can have splotches and streaks of darker or lighter material, known as spokes,...

An artist’s impression of the giant exoplanet Kepler-1704b. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Neptune-Mass Exoplanet around Ultracool Dwarf Star Challenges Current Theories of Planet Formation

Nov 30, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Current theories predict that low-mass stars should rarely host planets with masses exceeding that of Neptune (17 Earth masses). An artist’s impression...

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