As of December 19th, 2022, 5,227 extrasolar planets have been confirmed in 3,908 systems, with over 9,000 more awaiting confirmation. While most of these planets are Jupiter- or Neptune-sized gas giants or rocky planets many times the size of Earth (Super-Earths), a statistically significant number have been planets where water makes up a significant part of their mass fraction – aka. “water worlds.” These planets are unlike anything we’ve seen in the Solar System and raise several questions about planet formation in our galaxy.
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Two Airbus Earth-imaging satellites poised for launch on Vega C rocket
A Vega C rocket on its launch pad in French Guiana with the Pléiades Neo Earth-imaging satellites inside the payload fairing. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace/S. Martin
Two Pléiades Neo Earth observation satellites are set to join Airbus’s constellation of high-resolution optical imagers with a launch Tuesday night from French Guiana on the first commercial flight of Europe’s Vega C rocket, a mission delayed from November to change out suspect hardware on the launcher’s payload fairing.
Boldly go: SpaceX to launch diversity tribute to 'Star Trek' creator Gene Roddenberry
A commitment to diversity honoring "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry will soon blast off to the final frontier.
Giant Exoplanet is Spiraling Inward to its Doom
“Death by star” is a fate awaiting most planets in star systems. That includes our Sun, Venus, and Mercury a few billion years from now. And, astronomers now see that same fate awaiting Kepler-1658b. It’s a hot Jupiter exoplanet orbiting an evolved F-type yellow-white dwarf star about 2600 light-years away from Earth.
Under pressure! Watch a Lockheed Martin inflatable space habitat explode (video)
Lockheed Martin has been blowing up its in-development inflatable space habitat in more ways than one.
Something weird is happening in Jupiter's atmosphere, 40-year study shows
Something odd is happening in Jupiter's atmosphere, a new study has revealed.
Russians assess flight worthiness of damaged Soyuz docked at space station
Russia’s Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft is pictured docked at the International Space Station in this Oct. 8 file photo. Credit: NASA
Russian managers are assessing whether a damaged Soyuz spacecraft docked at the International Space Station can safely carry its three-man crew back to Earth in late March as planned or whether a replacement must be launched to take its place, officials said Monday.
Megadrought on Earth affected gravity waves at the edge of space
An intense drought that has persisted on Earth for over two decades is now thought to have affected gravity wave activity where our planet's atmosphere meets outer space
JWST Sees Furious Star Formation in a Stellar Nursery
The powerful James Webb Space Telescope is a mighty technological tool. Astrophysicists first conceived it over 20 years ago, and after many twists and turns, it was launched on December 2st, 2021. Now it’s in a halo orbit at the Sun-Earth L2 point, where it will hopefully continue operating for 20 years.
'Avatar: The Way of Water' is a striking sci-fi fantasia drowned in Hollywood cliches
James Cameron's "Avatar: The Way of Water" is technically brilliant and visually stunning, but it's overlong and riddled with cliches.
Webb Telescope Sees Deep and Wide into the Universe
A new deep field from the James Webb Space Telescope shows how galaxies evolved in the early universe.
North Korea launches test flight for planned 2023 spy satellite
North Korea launched a rocket to test ground stations ahead of a planned spy satellite launch into orbit by April 2023, according to the nation's state-run media.
Gravitational Wave Observatories Could Search for Warp Drive Signatures
In 2016, scientists at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) announced that they had made the first confirmed detection of gravitational waves (GWs). This discovery confirmed a prediction made a century before by Einstein and his Theory of General Relativity and opened the door to a whole new field of astrophysical research. By studying the waves caused by the merger of massive objects, scientists could probe the interior of neutron stars, detect dark matter, and discover new particles around supermassive black holes (SMBHs).
Meteoroid strike may have caused Soyuz spacecraft leak, Russian state news reports
The Russian space agency has not yet disclosed a cause for the leak that sprung on a Soyuz spacecraft Thursday (Dec. 15), although a state agency speculated it might be a meteor.
Fujifilm X-T5 review
The Fujifilm X-T5 is by no means an astrophotography specialist, but it does perform well in low light and is a great all-rounder.
Ancient Mexico's solar calendar in the mountains identified
Ancient Mexicans closely watching the sun from only a single location accurately tracked the seasons and operated a farming calendar that fed millions.
The creatures of Avatar & Avatar: The Way of Water
As we return to Pandora in theaters, we learn a bit more about the distinct creatures, old and new, that roam the gorgeous locations of the Avatar movies.
Mammals were already poised to take over the world before the dino-killing asteroid struck
Ancient mammals were better adapted than nonavian dinosaurs to survive the Chicxulub asteroid impact.
Doom-spiraling exoplanet will someday meet fiery demise
Tidal interactions are pulling the exoplanet toward its demise: a fiery collision with its star.
Scientists trace fireball to strange rocky meteoroid from the edge of the solar system
A rocky meteoroid that exploded over Canada last year was more extraordinary than it first seemed: it originated from the outer solar system, where scientists thought only icy bodies exist.
NASA's InSight lander just recorded its biggest quake on Mars ever
A Marsquake detected by NASA's InSight lander in May this year was at least five times larger than the next largest seismic event recorded on the planet.
