Tag Archive for 'Planetesimal'

This artist’s conception shows exocomets in a young planetary system. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Ukrainian Astronomers Spot Five New Exocomets around Beta Pictoris

Apr 18, 2022 by Sergio Prostak

Using data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), a team of astronomers from Ukraine has detected the transits of five comets around...

Hubble’s photo of Jupiter displays the ever-changing landscape of its turbulent atmosphere. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Amy Simon, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / Michael H. Wong, University of California, Berkeley / Joseph DePasquale, STScI.

Proto-Jupiter Underwent Significant Orbital Migration, Research Suggests

Apr 4, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

The atmosphere of Jupiter is enriched with heavy elements by a factor of about 3 compared to a protosolar composition. The origin of this enrichment and...

This illustration depicts the result of a collision between two large asteroid-sized bodies around a young star. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Spitzer Spots Enormous Debris Cloud around Young Star

Mar 18, 2022 by News Staff

The debris cloud in the terrestrial zone of the 10-million-year-old star HD 166191 was created by a large impact involving objects of several hundred kilometers...

An artist’s impression of the white dwarf star WD 1054-226 orbited by clouds of planetary debris and a major planet in the habitable zone. Image credit: Mark A. Garlick / www.markgarlick.com.

Astronomers Find Planetary Bodies in Habitable Zone of White Dwarf

Feb 11, 2022 by News Staff

Using the ULTRACAM instrument on ESO’s 3.5-m New Technology Telescope and NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), astronomers have observed...

This color image from the DECam Plane Survey shows TIC 400799224. Image credit: Powell et al., doi: 10.3847/1538-3881/ac2c81.

TESS Spots Mysterious Dust-Emitting Object in Binary Stellar System

Jan 4, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) have discovered a unique object of uncertain nature — possibly a disintegrating...

Fomalhaut b Doesn’t Exist, Astronomers Say

Apr 21, 2020 by News Staff

The directly-imaged massive exoplanet Fomalhaut b is actually a dispersing cloud of dust, produced by a catastrophic collision between two large planetesimals...

This composite image of Ultima Thule was compiled from data obtained by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft as it flew by the object on January 1, 2019. The image combines enhanced color data (close to what the human eye would see) with detailed high-resolution panchromatic pictures. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute / Roman Tkachenko.

Three New Studies Provide More Complete Picture of Physical Nature of Kuiper Belt Object Arrokoth

Feb 18, 2020 by News Staff

On January 1, 2019, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft flew past the Kuiper Belt object (KBO) Arrokoth — provisional designation 2014 MU69, previously...

An artist’s impression of ‘Oumuamua. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.

We Can Expect Few Large Interstellar Objects Showing Up Every Year, Astronomers Say

Oct 1, 2019 by News Staff

Yale University astronomers Gregory Laughlin and Malena Rice propose that interstellar objects such as the interstellar asteroid ‘Oumuamua and the interstellar...

Global map of the albedo from the 750 nm filter of the UV-VIS camera onboard NASA’s Clementine spacecraft. The image shows the near side and far side of the Moon in Lambert, equal-area projection. Image credit: NASA.

Moon’s Nearside-Farside Asymmetries are Result of Ancient Giant Impact, Says New Study

May 23, 2019 by News Staff

The Moon has striking asymmetries between its nearside and farside in topography, crustal thickness, and composition. A new study, published in the Journal...

As a metallic asteroid such as Psyche cooled and solidified, iron volcanoes may have erupted onto its surface. Image credit: Elena Hartley.

Ferrovolcanism: Liquid Iron-Spewing Volcanoes Erupted on Metallic Asteroids, Scientists Say

Apr 9, 2019 by News Staff

Metallic asteroids are the cooled cores of disrupted planetesimals. They originated early in the history of our Solar System when planets were beginning...

A planet-like object orbits SDSS J122859.93+104032.9, leaving a tail of gas in its wake. Image credit: Mark Garlick / University of Warwick.

Planet-Like Object Found Orbiting White Dwarf

Apr 5, 2019 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Gran Telescopio Canarias have spotted a low-mass planet-like object in a disk of gas and debris around SDSS J122859.93+104032.9,...

This composite picture combines nine individual images taken with New Horizons’ Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI), each with an exposure time of 0.025 seconds, just 6 ½ minutes before the spacecraft’s closest approach to Ultima Thule. The image was taken at 12:26 a.m. EST (5:26 a.m. GMT) on January 1, 2019, when the spacecraft was 4,109 miles (6,628 km) from Ultima Thule and 4.1 billion miles (6.6 billion km) from Earth. The angle between the spacecraft, Ultima Thule and the Sun -- known as the ‘phase angle’ - was 33 degrees. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute / National Optical Astronomy Observatory.

Ultima Thule: Revealing First Primordial Planetesimal

Mar 20, 2019 by News Staff

Analyzing the data NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has been sending home since the flyby of the Kuiper Belt object Ultima Thule, the mission team is learning...

An artist’s impression of the newly-discovered Kuiper Belt object. Image credit: Ko Arimatsu.

Astronomers Discover Kilometer-Sized Object in Kuiper Belt

Jan 29, 2019 by News Staff

A team of astronomers from Japan has discovered a 2.6-km (1.6 mile) wide object in the Kuiper Belt, a distant region of icy debris that extends far beyond...

An artist’s rendition of NWA 11119 (far right bottom corner of illustration), the oldest-ever igneous meteorite. Image credit: University of New Mexico.

4.56-Billion-Year-Old Igneous Meteorite Contains Clues to Planetary Building Blocks

Aug 7, 2018 by News Staff

Northwest Africa (NWA) 11119, a stone meteorite found in December 2016 in Mauritania, is the world’s oldest igneous meteorite, according to new research. An...

Artist’s illustration depicting the destruction of a young planet. Image credit: NASA / CXC / M.Weiss.

Young Star Caught Snacking on Planetary Debris

Jul 19, 2018 by News Staff

For decades, astronomers have puzzled over the variability of young stars residing in Taurus-Auriga dark clouds, a group of molecular clouds located in...

This artist’s concept shows a young planetary system. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Inner Main-Belt Asteroids Are Remnants of Few Ancient Minor Planets, Study Shows

Jul 4, 2018 by News Staff

According to new research, at least 85% of 200,000 asteroids in the inner asteroid belt — the main source of Earth’s meteorites — originate...

Marchi et al modeled the protracted period of bombardment after the Moon formed, determining that impactor metals may have descended into Earth’s core. This artistic rendering illustrates a large impactor crashing into the young Earth. Light brown and gray particles indicate the projectile’s mantle (silicate) and core (metal) material, respectively. Image credit: Southwest Research Institute.

Large Planetesimals Delivered More Mass to Proto-Earth than Previously Thought

Dec 5, 2017 by News Staff

After the Moon’s formation, Earth experienced a protracted bombardment by large (over 1,500 km in diameter) planetesimals. Dr. Simone Marchi, a researcher...

Artist’s impression of the terrestrial exoplanet Gliese 667 Cb with the Gliese 667 A/B binary in the background. Image credit: L. Calçada / ESO.

Rocky Exoplanets around Binary Stars May Be Widespread, Astrophysicists Say

Mar 30, 2015 by News Staff

According to astrophysicists Dr Scott Kenyon of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and Dr Ben Bromley of the University of Utah, terrestrial, Earth-like...

This is an artist impression of the protoplanetary disk around HD 107146. Image credit: A. Angelich / NRAO / AUI / NSF.

Astronomers Discover Hundreds of Pluto-Size Objects Orbiting Star HD 107146

Dec 12, 2014 by News Staff

U.S. astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array have discovered an entire family of Pluto-size planetesimals around a nearby young...