NASA's Spitzer spots clump of planet-forming material around young starSeptember 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has witnessed a clump of planet-forming material around a young star. Planets form out of swirling disks of gas and dust.
Earth-sized moons may orbit around 'hot Jupiters'September 12th, 2009 SYDNEY - In a new study, scientists have determined that giant gas planets like Jupiter, which orbit close to their parent star, could harbour moons the size of Earth. According to a report by ABC News, the study was led by graduate student Tim Cassidy from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, US.
Indian scientist discovers X-ray bursts from neutron stars can help reveal their sizeSeptember 8th, 2009 SYDNEY - In a new research, an Indian scientist has determined that the pattern of x-rays generated by neutron stars may reveal their true size. According to a report by ABC News, Dr Sudip Bhattacharyya of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in India led the research.
Warped debris disks around stars a result of interstellar windAugust 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new research, a team of scientists has determined that the warped shapes of the dust-filled disks where new planets may be forming around other stars, may be due to interstellar wind. The dust-filled disks where new planets may be forming around other stars occasionally take on some difficult-to-understand shapes.
Radiation from massive stars may trigger many more stars than previously thoughtAugust 13th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study from two of NASA's Great Observatories has shown that radiation from massive stars may trigger the formation of many more stars than previously thought. While astronomers have long understood that stars and planets form from the collapse of a cloud of gas, the question of the main causes of this process has remained open.
NASA's Kepler space telescope detects atmosphere of known giant gas planetAugust 10th, 2009 WASHINGTON - NASA's new exoplanet-hunting Kepler space telescope has detected the atmosphere of a known giant gas planet. The find is based on a relatively short 10 days of test data collected before the official start of science operations.
Planet-hunting telescope sees three alien worldsAugust 7th, 2009 LONDON - The planet-hunting Kepler space telescope has found its first extrasolar planets, in the form of three alien worlds that had been previously discovered with ground-based telescopes. According to a report in New Scientist, the finds confirm that Kepler's instruments are sensitive enough to detect Earth-like planets around sun-like stars.
World's largest and most advanced Telescope to debut on July 24July 14th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The world's largest, most technologically advanced telescope is all set to make its formal debut on July 24 in Spain's Canary Islands. Known as the Gran Telescopio Canarias, the telescope has a 10.4-meter diameter mirror, and has more light-collecting area than any other telescope.
Search begins for Earth-sized planets around other starsJune 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, US, is partnering on a historic search for Earth-sized planets around other stars. STScI is the data archive center for NASA's Kepler mission, a spacecraft that is undertaking a survey for Earth-size planets in our region of the galaxy.
Planets too have "fat days"June 21st, 2009 LONDON - Humans are not the only ones cribbing over weight issues, some planets too go through a "fat" stage that swells their waistlines temporarily. "Astronomers have found a lot of planets whose sizes cannot be explained by standard theory," says Laurent Ibgui of Princeton University.
Now, scientists to hunt for aliens by analyzing reflected lightJune 15th, 2009 LONDON - A new technique for detecting signs of life on distant planets by analyzing reflected light could soon lead astronomers to extra-terrestrial life. According to a report in the Telegraph, when scientists tested the method on Earth, they found unmistakably strong signs of life in the form of chemical "fingerprints".
First extragalactic exoplanet may have been found by gravitational microlensingJune 11th, 2009 London, June 11 (ANI: A team of scientists has used gravitational microlensing to come up with a tentative detection of the first extragalactic exoplanet in Andromeda, our nearest large galactic neighbour. In gravitational microlensing, a distant source star is briefly magnified by the gravity of an object passing in front of it.
Searching for aliens just got easier!June 11th, 2009 Washington, June 11 (ANI: Astronomers, using the William Herschel Telescope (WHT) on La Palma have confirmed an effective way to search the atmospheres of planets for signs of life, vastly improving our chances of finding alien life outside our solar system. The team from the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC) used the WHT and the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) to gather information about the chemical composition of the Earth's atmosphere from sunlight that has passed through it.
Astronomers detect planet forming disk orbiting twin sunsJune 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Astronomers have found a planet forming disk orbiting twin suns in images captured from radio telescopes. The sequence of images, collected with the Smithsonian's Submillimeter Array (SMA), provide an unusually vivid snapshot of the process of formation of giant planets, comets, and Pluto-like bodies.
Astronomers discover Jupiter-like planet orbiting one of the smallest stars knownMay 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A long-proposed tool for hunting planets has finally discovered a Jupiter-like planet orbiting one of the smallest stars known. The technique, called astrometry, was first attempted 50 years ago to search for planets outside our solar system, called exoplanets.
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