Tag: Planets – GeekWire

Video

NASA unveils first science images from TESS probe’s quest to spot alien planets

by Alan Boyle on September 17, 2018September 17, 2018 at 12:33 pmComment

The first science images from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite focus on a strip of southern sky that includes the two nearest dwarf galaxies and plenty of potential targets in… Read More

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What is a ‘planet’? Historical study revisits the debate over Pluto and other dwarfs

by Alan Boyle on September 8, 2018September 8, 2018 at 10:37 amComment

Twelve years after the International Astronomical Union voted in a definition of planethood that reclassified Pluto, the debate goes on. A newly published study uses the historical record to take… Read More

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It’s prime time for watching Mars – plus a total lunar eclipse that you can see online

by Alan Boyle on July 26, 2018July 27, 2018 at 10:41 amComment

It’s no hoax: Mars is bigger and brighter in the night sky than it’s been at any time since 2003. And you can watch the longest total lunar eclipse of… Read More

NASA’s Kepler probe suspends planet hunt to download data as fuel runs near empty

by Alan Boyle on July 6, 2018July 6, 2018 at 1:03 pmComment

News Brief: NASA has hit the pause button on observations by its most prolific planet-hunting probe, the Kepler space telescope, so that it can download 51 days’ worth science data… Read More

NASA’s Dawn probe snaps close-ups of Ceres’ formerly mysterious white spots

by Alan Boyle on July 3, 2018July 4, 2018 at 7:53 amComment

The once-mysterious bright spots shining on the surface of the dwarf planet Ceres are getting their closest close-ups from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, adding to the strangest sights of the solar… Read More

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It’s full of stars! NASA’s planet-hunting TESS probe sends back its first test image

by Alan Boyle on May 18, 2018May 18, 2018 at 7:03 pm 4 Comments

One month after its launch, NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite has sent back an initial test image that shows more than 200,000 stars in the southern sky. TESS’ image was… Read More

Pluto’s champion recounts first mission to icy world – and gears up for the next one

by Alan Boyle on April 30, 2018April 30, 2018 at 3:27 pmComment

It took nine years for NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft to get to Pluto, and laying the groundwork for that history-making space mission here on Earth took nearly twice as long.… Read More

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SpaceX launches NASA’s TESS spacecraft on mission to seek out alien planets

by Alan Boyle on April 18, 2018April 18, 2018 at 4:17 pm1 Comment

SpaceX has launched NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, kicking off a mission aimed at surveying nearly the entire sky for exoplanets. The probe rose into space atop a SpaceX… Read More

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SpaceX and NASA delay launch of TESS planet hunter to check guidance analysis

by Alan Boyle on April 16, 2018April 16, 2018 at 2:13 pmComment

NASA and SpaceX say they’ll take more time to launch the Transiting Exoplanet Survey System, or TESS, just to make sure the $337 million mission will be on the right… Read More

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Our solar system has met its match: AI helps scientists find a star’s eighth planet

by Kurt Schlosser on December 14, 2017December 14, 2017 at 2:14 pmComment

We’re not alone. At least when it comes to solar systems with the same number of major planets as ours. NASA today announced details about the recent discovery of an… Read More

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Ross 128 redux: Red dwarf sparks interest as a potentially not-so-weird locale for life

by Alan Boyle on November 15, 2017November 15, 2017 at 7:16 pm1 Comment

A red dwarf star that was previously thought to be the source of a weird signal from aliens turns out to have a temperate Earth-sized planet, astronomers reported today. The… Read More

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Help NASA and New Horizons nickname the icy world they’re targeting after Pluto

by Alan Boyle on November 6, 2017November 6, 2017 at 8:01 pmComment

2014 MU69 just won’t cut it, so NASA and the folks behind the New Horizons mission want you to help pick out a cooler nickname for the icy object that’s… Read More

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Newfound dust belts suggest that Proxima Centauri has more than one alien planet

by Alan Boyle on November 3, 2017November 2, 2017 at 9:14 pm1 Comment

Astronomers created a stir last year when they reported that the closest star beyond our own solar system harbors a potentially habitable planet, but now fresh evidence hints that there… Read More

Google Maps expands its interplanetary domain all the way out to Pluto

by Alan Boyle on October 18, 2017October 19, 2017 at 7:22 am1 Comment

If you zoom way, way out on Google Maps, you can now find your way around places like Sputnik Planum, Seville Mons, Aphrodite Terra and Damascus Sulcus. Those are destinations… Read More

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Hours before its doom, NASA’s Cassini probe takes its parting shots at Saturn

by Alan Boyle on September 14, 2017September 15, 2017 at 7:58 amComment

The final pictures from NASA’s 13-year-long Cassini mission at Saturn are flowing in – and they’re good to the last drop. Or even better, good to the last moonset. Raw images,… Read More

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Cassini orbiter’s team turns Saturn crash into cause for celebration – and for science

by Alan Boyle on September 14, 2017September 14, 2017 at 4:10 amComment

Twenty years after its launch to Saturn, NASA has set the Cassini orbiter on a course for certain destruction on Friday – but there’s a decidedly positive spin to the… Read More

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Project Blue tries again with crowdfunding campaign for planet-watching telescope

by Alan Boyle on September 6, 2017September 6, 2017 at 5:42 pmComment

Project Blue is launching a second try to attract crowdfunding for a space telescope designed to study planets in the Alpha Centauri system, months after the first try fizzled. This… Read More

Why these scientists argue that we are turning Earth into an alien planet

by Alan Boyle on September 6, 2017September 6, 2017 at 11:55 am1 Comment

A trio of scientists has just laid out a new classification scheme for planets that would put Earth into a hybrid category, making the transition from a diverse, photosynthetic-based biosphere… Read More

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Hubble keeps hope alive for water on potentially habitable TRAPPIST-1 planets

by Alan Boyle on August 31, 2017August 31, 2017 at 12:38 pmComment

Do some of the Earth-sized planets around a dwarf star called TRAPPIST-1, just 40 light-years away, have liquid water? Newly reported findings from the Hubble Space Telescope give astrobiologists continued… Read More

Podcast

Science fiction has won the war: Best-selling author Greg Bear on the genre’s new ‘golden age’

by Frank Catalano on August 22, 2017August 22, 2017 at 10:37 amComment

From the perspective of one of science fiction’s best-selling and longtime authors, the state of science fiction is golden. Golden age, that is. Greg Bear, whose popular works include three… Read More

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Scientists say there may be yet another unseen planet at solar system’s edge

by Alan Boyle on June 21, 2017June 21, 2017 at 4:03 pm1 Comment

Astronomers say they’ve found hints that an unseen planetary-mass object may lurk in the outer reaches of our solar system. And no, they’re not talking about Planet Nine, Planet X,… Read More

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NASA’s Kepler space telescope points to 10 new planets in the habitable zone

by Chelsey Ballarte on June 19, 2017June 20, 2017 at 2:27 pm1 Comment

Astronomers say they’ve used NASA’s Kepler space telescope to discover 10 Earth-sized planet candidates where life could lurk. The 10 prospects are a part of a larger pool of 219… Read More

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NASA’s Juno orbiter maps Jupiter’s super cyclones and monstrous magnetism

by Alan Boyle on May 25, 2017May 25, 2017 at 5:13 pmComment

NASA’s Juno orbiter has been sending back stunning pictures of Jupiter for months, but now the mission’s scientists are sharing their first peer-reviewed findings about the planet’s previously unseen polar… Read More

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Astronomers use the music of the spheres to track TRAPPIST-1’s seventh planet

by Alan Boyle on May 22, 2017May 22, 2017 at 1:52 pm1 Comment

An international research team led by a University of Washington astronomer has worked out the intricate dance of seven planets circling an ultracool dwarf star known as TRAPPIST-1, nailing down… Read More

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Newfound super-Earth could be the best planet for analyzing alien atmospheres

by Alan Boyle on April 19, 2017May 22, 2017 at 1:28 pm1 Comment

It’s not the closest potentially habitable planet, but astronomers say a world 40 percent wider than Earth could be one of the best places to target in the search for life… Read More

It’s a UFO! It’s a walnut? No … It’s Pan, one of Saturn’s weirdest-looking moons

by Alan Boyle on March 10, 2017March 10, 2017 at 3:27 pm 3 Comments

Astronomers have long known that Pan, one of the “shepherd moons” in Saturn’s rings, had a weird shape. But it took this week’s high-resolution images from the Cassini orbiter to… Read More

Video

Planets

NASA unveils first science images from TESS probe’s quest to spot alien planets

What is a ‘planet’? Historical study revisits the debate over Pluto and other dwarfs

It’s prime time for watching Mars – plus a total lunar eclipse that you can see online

NASA’s Kepler probe suspends planet hunt to download data as fuel runs near empty

NASA’s Dawn probe snaps close-ups of Ceres’ formerly mysterious white spots

It’s full of stars! NASA’s planet-hunting TESS probe sends back its first test image

Pluto’s champion recounts first mission to icy world – and gears up for the next one

SpaceX launches NASA’s TESS spacecraft on mission to seek out alien planets

SpaceX and NASA delay launch of TESS planet hunter to check guidance analysis

Our solar system has met its match: AI helps scientists find a star’s eighth planet

Ross 128 redux: Red dwarf sparks interest as a potentially not-so-weird locale for life

Help NASA and New Horizons nickname the icy world they’re targeting after Pluto

Newfound dust belts suggest that Proxima Centauri has more than one alien planet

Google Maps expands its interplanetary domain all the way out to Pluto

Hours before its doom, NASA’s Cassini probe takes its parting shots at Saturn

Cassini orbiter’s team turns Saturn crash into cause for celebration – and for science

Project Blue tries again with crowdfunding campaign for planet-watching telescope

Why these scientists argue that we are turning Earth into an alien planet

Hubble keeps hope alive for water on potentially habitable TRAPPIST-1 planets

Science fiction has won the war: Best-selling author Greg Bear on the genre’s new ‘golden age’

Scientists say there may be yet another unseen planet at solar system’s edge

NASA’s Kepler space telescope points to 10 new planets in the habitable zone

NASA’s Juno orbiter maps Jupiter’s super cyclones and monstrous magnetism

Astronomers use the music of the spheres to track TRAPPIST-1’s seventh planet

Newfound super-Earth could be the best planet for analyzing alien atmospheres

It’s a UFO! It’s a walnut? No … It’s Pan, one of Saturn’s weirdest-looking moons

Looking for life: Scientists find 7 possibly Earthlike planets orbiting ultracool star

Hunt for Planet Nine leads to mini-worlds

Proxima Centauri b confirmed! Potentially habitable planet orbits the star next door

Revived Kepler mission confirms 104 new planets, and two could be a lot like Earth

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