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05 September 2010
The Origin of Exoplanets
We truly live in an amazing time for exoplanet research. It was only 18 years ago the first planet outside our solar system was discovered. Fifteen since the first confirmation of one around a main sequence star. Even more recently, direct images have begun to sprout up, as well as the first spectra of the [...]
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23 August 2010
Tight Binaries are ‘Death Stars’ for Planets
Astronomers studying double star systems where the two stars are extremely close have found a pattern of destruction. While there probably isn’t a Star Wars-like Death Star roaming the Universe, tight binary systems might provide the equivalent of Darth Vader’s favorite weapon. "This is real-life science fiction," said Jeremy Drake of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for [...]
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24 May 2010
Wild and Crazy Multi-Planetary System Surprises Astronomers
Astronomers are finding that not only are there a wide range of different extrasolar planets, but there are different types of planetary systems, as well. "We're not in Kansas anymore as far as solar systems go," said Barbara McDonald from the University of Texas' McDonald Observatory, at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Miami, [...]
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15 January 2010
How Water Protected Our Molecules
One would think that crafting a shield out of water wouldn't do much good (not in medieval combat re-enactments, anyways). But that's precisely what the molecules in the early Solar System – some of the same ones that you are made out of today, perhaps – may have done. In their case, protection from broadswords [...]
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23 November 2009
Hot Jupiters Bully Super Earths
Bullies are everywhere and the universe is no exception. In our own solar system, Jupiter's mass is second only to that of the Sun. Its gravitational effects tug around a set of asteroids known as the Trojans and may prevent the asteroid belt from becoming anything more substantial. Fortunately, our humble planet gets along with [...]
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10 June 2009
Planet-Forming Disk Discovered Orbiting Binary System
Science fiction is lousy with examples of planets that orbit a system of two suns. Tatooine, in the Star Wars saga, is endowed with a pair of suns to light up the sky, as is the planet Magrathea in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It would indeed be quite a spectacle to wake up [...]
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