Astronomers may have caught a still-forming planet in action, carving out an intricate pattern in the gas and dust that surrounds its young host star. Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), they observed a planetary disc with prominent spiral arms, finding clear signs of a planet nestled in its innerContinue Reading
Subaru Telescope has made an exciting discovery: a small body beyond Pluto, with implications for the formation, evolution, and current structure of the outer Solar System. The object was found as part of the survey project FOSSIL (Formation of the Outer Solar System: An Icy Legacy), which takes advantage ofContinue Reading
Inhabiting Mars has long been a futuristic fantasy fueled by science fiction. However, successful landings on our neighboring planet over the past half-century have made this seemingly far-fetched idea increasingly plausible. But don’t start packing just yet. First, we must figure out how to build structures millions of miles fromContinue Reading
Star TOI-6894 is just like many in our galaxy, a small red dwarf, and only ~20% of the mass of our Sun. Like many small stars, it is not expected to provide suitable conditions for the formation and hosting of a large planet. However, as published today in Nature Astronomy,Continue Reading
An international team of astronomers led by University of Galway, has discovered the likely site of a new planet in formation, most likely a gas giant planet up to a few times the mass of Jupiter. Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) in Chile, the researchersContinue Reading
MIT astronomers have discovered a planet some 140 light-years from Earth that is rapidly crumbling to pieces. The disintegrating world is about the mass of Mercury, although it circles about 20 times closer to its star than Mercury does to the sun, completing an orbit every 30.5 hours. At suchContinue Reading
The fundamental building blocks for planet formation can exist even in environments with extreme ultraviolet radiation, according to a new study by an international collaboration led by Penn State astronomers. The study leveraged the unparalleled capabilities of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and sophisticated thermochemical modeling to investigate aContinue Reading
Planet Labs (NYSE:PL) said it has planned to cut its global workforce by ~180 employees, which represents ~17% of the firm’s total number of employees. The firm said it expects to incur non-recurring charges of ~$9.5 million to $10.5 million in aggregate pre-tax costs related to the reduction. The majorityContinue Reading
