Astronomy, features and articles | Educational Science

Dec 18, 2023

NASA identifies 17 planets with possible subsurface oceans, and they could be fit for life

As far as we know, life needs water. Due to this simple truth, astronomers and astrobiologists have naturally focused their efforts on identifying exoplanets that might harbor liquid oceans. Water in its liquid form can exist on a planet's surface, where direct heat from its host star can keep the...

Jan 5, 2024

Scientists have a new way to find oceans — and possible alien life — on distant planets

Searching for liquid water on exoplanets is the key to finding life among the stars, and now, scientists have proposed a new strategy that might improve the chances of finding it. In the new study, published Dec. 28 in the journal Nature Astronomy, researchers hypothesized that if the atmosphere of...

Jan 16, 2024

5 Earth-like worlds may lurk in the outer reaches of the solar system, simulations suggest

Most astronomers agree there are only four terrestrial, or rocky, planets in our solar system, all of which lie close to the sun. But new research suggests that up to five more may be lurking at the outer bounds of the solar system. Free-floating planets (FFPs) are planet-size objects that...

Jan 25, 2024

Physics-breaking 'rogue' objects spotted by James Webb telescope are emitting radio signals that scientists can't explain

In 2023, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) helped identify hundreds of free-floating rogue planets that don't orbit a parent star. Now, astronomers have found that a pair of these planets may be producing enigmatic, hard-to-interpret radio signals. The rogue planets spotted by JWST lie in the Orion Nebula, a...

Jan 31, 2024

Are they exomoons or not? Scientists debate existence of 1st moons seen beyond our solar system

Astronomers always knew spotting moons around planets outside the solar system would be no mean feat — but a debate currently raging in planetary science circles shows just how tough detecting these so-called exomoons is going to be. The story begins in 2018, when astronomers including David Kipping, an assistant...

Feb 6, 2024

James Webb telescope makes ultra-rare detection of 2 planets orbiting dead stars

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has already proven itself adept at peering into the past by imaging objects at tremendous distances, but a new breakthrough may have seen the powerful instrument act almost like a scientific crystal ball, staring into the far future of the solar system. The JWST...

Feb 28, 2024

Radar images show Europe's doomed ERS-2 satellite buckle and burn during final orbits of Earth

The European Space Agency has released images showing some of the final orbits experienced by a European satellite before its fiery reintroduction to Earth's atmosphere. The school-bus-sized European Remote Sensing (ERS-2) satellite reentered our planet's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean on Feb. 21, almost 29 years after its launch in...

Feb 28, 2024

'Mathematically perfect' star system being investigated for potential alien technology

Late last year, astronomers discovered a fascinating star system only 100 light-years away from us. Its six sub-Neptune planets circle very close to their host star in mathematically perfect orbits, piquing the interest of scientists searching for alien technology, or technosignatures, which they argue would offer compelling evidence of advanced...