planets

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Milky Way Has 17B Planets the Size of Ours

And that's a conservative estimate

(Newser) - Before we start feeling too special about our home planet, scientists have a message: There are at least 17 billion planets the size of Earth in the Milky Way alone, Space.com reports. About 17% of our galaxy's stars have Earth-size exoplanets closely orbiting them—so 100 billion stars...

Milky Way: Home to 100B+ Planets
 Milky Way: Home to 
 100B+ Planets 
new study
Jan 3, 2013 1:07 PM CST

Milky Way: Home to 100B+ Planets

New study comes up with conservative estimate

(Newser) - Scientists have done a sort of "cosmic census," completing a new study that finds the Milky Way galaxy is home to 100 billion alien planets—and maybe even many more than that. "It's a staggering number, if you think about it," says the lead author....

Mercury Harbors Lots of Ice
 Mercury Harbors Lots of Ice 
Nov 29, 2012 6:59 PM CST

Mercury Harbors Lots of Ice

Frozen water confirmed at planet's north pole

(Newser) - Just in time for Christmas, scientists have confirmed a vast amount of ice at the north pole—on Mercury, the closest planet to the sun. The findings are from NASA's Mercury-orbiting probe, Messenger, and the subject of three scientific papers released today by the journal Science. The frozen water...

'Tatooine-Like' Planet Found With 4 Suns

Astronomers discover world about 5K light-years away

(Newser) - Luke Skywalker would not consider this a big deal, but some of us earthlings are getting excited. Astronomers have discovered a Tatooine-like planet that orbits two suns and is also orbited by two other stars, Space.com reports. Called PH1, the gas giant is about six times bigger than Earth...

Moon No. 5 Found for Pluto
 Moon No. 5 Found for Pluto 
Jul 12, 2012 5:33 AM CDT

Moon No. 5 Found for Pluto

Just 6 miles across, P5 is Pluto's smallest moon yet

(Newser) - It's not a chapter in the Twilight series, but it is a new moon: astronomers have discovered a tiny fifth satellite revolving around distant Pluto, reports Space.com . One year after P4 was announced, now the Hubble Telescope has spied a fifth moon. Pluto's biggest moon, Charon, is...

Oddly Close Alien Planets Witness Huge 'Planetrise'

Kepler Space Telescope spots them 1,200 light-years away

(Newser) - Two far-flung planets are orbiting the same star so closely that they can appear to each other as giant, colorful moons, Space.com reports. Spotted by the Kepler Space Telescope, a craggy "super-Earth" and a gaseous, Neptune-size world are 1,200 light-years away, but just 1.2 million miles...

Mars Rover Moves for 1st Time in 5 Months

Had to weather Martian winter

(Newser) - The Mars rover Opportunity is on the go again. After spending nearly five months conducting experiments in one spot, the NASA rover moved for the first time this week, rolling off the rock outcrop where it hunkered down for the Martian winter. The mission team received confirmation late Tuesday that...

Milky Way Has Tens of Billions of Habitable Planets

These super-Earths are all over the galaxy, say scientists

(Newser) - Could aliens be hanging out in the Milky Way? A new discovery by astronomers shows they'd have plenty of possible homes in the galaxy, reports Reuters . The researchers found that tens of billions of planets reside in a habitable zone close to a star, allowing water to flow on...

Venus, Jupiter Nestle Nice and Close Tonight

Planets will dazzle skywatchers with annual get-together

(Newser) - Look out the window tonight and you'll see two planetary pals coming together for their annual rendezvous. Venus and Jupiter, which have been approaching each other for months, will finally dazzle skywatchers this week by nestling nice and close—from our perspective, in fact, just a few inches apart....

Venus, Jupiter, Moon Come Together This Weekend

Stargazers will be able to see convergence around the world

(Newser) - Venus, Jupiter, and Earth's moon are coming together Saturday and Sunday to put on a brilliant show in the night sky, the AP reports. Venus and Jupiter have already been lining up, and a crescent moon will join them this weekend; stargazers will be able to see the convergence...

Is Jupiter&#39;s Core Dissolving?
 Is Jupiter's Core Dissolving? 
Dec 21, 2011 9:48 AM CST

Is Jupiter's Core Dissolving?

Theory holds that midsection is slowly shrinking

(Newser) - Jupiter may be the largest planet in our solar system, but what if its massive core is actually dissolving? Jupiter's core of iron, rock, and ice is suspended in a sea of hydrogen and helium, under pressure 40 million times greater than that which we experience on Earth, and...

Jumping Jupiter! 5th Giant Planet Evicted Eons Ago

Theory says it got knocked out of our early solar system

(Newser) - Our young solar system may have had another huge planet that got knocked into deep space by Jupiter, reports Wired . Astronomers at the Southwest Research Institute in Texas arrived at this "Jumping Jupiter" theory because computer simulations can't figure out how our modern solar system emerged as is...

Venus Has Ozone Layer, Too
 Venus Has Ozone Layer, Too 
Oct 7, 2011 4:29 PM CDT

Venus Has Ozone Layer, Too

It joins Earth and Mars

(Newser) - Venus has joined Earth and Mars in the ozone layer club. A spacecraft from the European Space Agency detected a thin layer about 60 miles above the planet, reports the BBC . Ozone protects Earth from the sun's ultraviolet rays, and astronomers say the discovery could help fine-tune their hunt...

Solar System May Have Ejected Mystery Planet: Scientist
 Solar System 
 Kicked Out 
 Extra Planet 
scientist says
Sep 26, 2011 6:09 PM CDT

Solar System Kicked Out Extra Planet

Early ejection may have helped Earth survive

(Newser) - Thank your lucky stars that our solar system was only big enough for eight planets. Apparently a ninth one—and a gas giant, no less—was nudged out billions of years ago and made room for Earth to survive. In computer simulations of our solar system's evolution, Colorado scientist...

Aliens May Attack Earth Over Global Warming
 If Aliens 
 Attack, Blame 
 Global Warming 
in case you missed it
Aug 27, 2011 3:55 PM CDT

If Aliens Attack, Blame Global Warming

Humanity's rapid expansion could scare extra-terrestrials

(Newser) - If there is extraterrestrial life out there, and it's watching us, it might just as soon blow us to kingdom come as look at us, LiveScience reports—and all because of global warming. If ETs notice our greenhouse gas emissions and conclude we're expanding too rapidly, they may...

Scientists Find Orphan Planets Without Stars

Astronomers discover 10 in Milky Way that don't orbit another body

(Newser) - They're outcasts on a galactic scale, rebels without a star: Astronomers think they have discovered 10 massive planets that defy a standard definition of what it means to be a planet: They orbit no star. What's more, the astronomers believe there are many, many more roaming free about...

Four Planets Align This Month
 Four Planets Align This Month 
May 10, 2011 12:52 PM CDT

Four Planets Align This Month

Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter in rare convergences

(Newser) - This month, Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter will take part in a series of what Space.com calls "celestial summit meetings." The four planets will converge twice to form a "trio," defined as an instance when three planets fit in a circle with a minimum 5-degree...

Kepler Results Boost Chances of Finding Alien Life

For every two suns, an Earth-like planet

(Newser) - Exciting news for alien enthusiasts: The discovery by NASA scientists of a vast trove of Earth-like planets orbiting distant suns boosts our chances of finding extraterrestrial life. Findings from the Kepler telescope revealed that for every two stars in the universe, one has an Earth-like "candidate planet" orbiting it,...

5 New Earth-Like Planets Spotted

Hello, is anyone out there?

(Newser) - Scientists have spotted five new planets orbiting stars in our galaxy that are close to the size of Earth and are located in a "habitable zone," according to researchers. They're the right distance from their stars that make the existence of life-essential liquid water possible. The planets are...

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