EXTRA SOLAR - SKY NIGHTLY

Adaptation to extreme conditions thermal water biofilm studies could help understand ancient ecosystems

Mar 11, 2025 (SPX)

A research team from Eotvos Lorand University, the University of Sopron, and the HUN-REN Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Geological and Geoche...

Beyond our solar system scientists uncover potential new exoplanet

Mar 11, 2025 (SPX)

Published in The Astrophysical Journal, the study, led by Scientia Senior Lecturer Ben Montet and PhD candidate Brendan McKee, examined transit anomalies in the...

U of A-built instrument reveals pictures of 'baby planets

Mar 11, 2025 (SPX)

The instrument, dubbed Magellan Adaptive Optics Xtreme, or MagAO-X, observed two young planets orbiting PDS 70, a very young 5 million-year-old star in the cons...

Small and large planets have significantly different upbringings

Mar 11, 2025 (SPX)

"What we found is that right around the size of Neptune, planets go from being almost always on circular orbits to very often having elliptical orbits," said UC...

James Webb Telescope reveals planet-forming disks can last longer than previously thought

Mar 05, 2025 (SPX)

Most of these planetary nurseries are short-lived, typically lasting only about 10 million years - a fleeting existence by cosmic standards. Now, in a surprisin...

NASA Webb Unveils Atmospheric Complexity of Isolated Super-Jupiter

Mar 04, 2025 (SPX)

Using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, researchers observed a broad infrared spectrum from SIMP 0136 over two full rotations. This analysis revealed dynamic c...

How Life Emerged on Early Earth

Mar 01, 2025 (SPX)

Nitrogen is a crucial component of proteins and other biological molecules. Although Earth's atmosphere is rich in nitrogen, most organisms, including humans an...

Can we find floating vegetation on ocean planets

Feb 28, 2025 (SPX)

On Earth-like planets, one of the primary indicators of vegetation is the "vegetation red edge," a distinct reflectance feature in the spectrum of terrestrial p...

Young Star Clusters Spawn Free-Floating Planetary-Mass Objects

Feb 28, 2025 (SPX)

Now, an international team of astronomers, in collaboration with the University of Zurich (UZH), has employed advanced simulations to reveal that these enigmati...

MSU forges strategic partnership to solve the mystery of how planets are formed

Feb 28, 2025 (SPX)

The team of researchers will use 154 hours on the James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST, to probe the atmospheres of seven planets beyond our solar system - all o...

Today's forecast Partially cloudy skies on an ultra-hot Neptune

Feb 26, 2025 (SPX)

Published in Nature Astronomy, the research reveals that LTT 9779 b, which orbits its star in under 24 hours, experiences intense heating on its permanent daysi...

U-M astronomy will lead its first satellite mission with NASA grant

Feb 20, 2025 (SPX)

The mission is called STARI-STarlight Acquisition and Reflection toward Interferometry-and will showcase the viability of a new technique for studying exoplanet...

Ultra-low-noise Infrared Detectors Advance Exoplanet Imaging

Feb 20, 2025 (SPX)

However, indirect detection methods provide limited information about the planet itself, such as its atmospheric composition, pressure, gravity, and temperature...

This exoplanet's extreme climate challenges atmospheric models

Feb 20, 2025 (SPX)

WASP-121b, a well-studied ultra-hot Jupiter, is known for its extreme conditions, including clouds of metal vapor. Researchers from the University of Geneva's (...

First 3D Atmospheric Mapping of an Exoplanet Reveals Extreme Weather Patterns

Feb 20, 2025 (SPX)

"This planet's atmosphere behaves in ways that challenge our understanding of how weather works - not just on Earth, but on all planets. It feels like something...

NASA Investigates Spaceborne Antibiotic Resistance with ISS Experiment

Feb 20, 2025 (SPX)

Antibiotic-resistant infections pose a major global health challenge, leading to increased mortality rates and treatment difficulties. Future space missions to ...

Researchers confirm existence of habitable zone exoplanet

Feb 18, 2025 (SPX)

Named HD 20794 d, the planet possesses a mass six times that of Earth and orbits a star located just 20 light-years away. The planet's orbit places it within th...

How Early Earth's Environmental Cycles Shaped Molecular Evolution

Feb 18, 2025 (SPX)

To recreate early Earth conditions, the research team exposed organic compounds to repeated cycles of hydration and dehydration. Instead of producing random rea...

Study suggests intelligent life may be inevitable

Feb 18, 2025 (SPX)

The study disputes the "hard steps" model, a framework introduced by theoretical physicist Brandon Carter in 1983. That model posits that the emergence of intel...

UC Irvine study explores habitability of exoplanets orbiting white dwarf stars

Feb 18, 2025 (SPX)

Using a three-dimensional global climate model typically employed for Earth studies, the team found that a white dwarf exoplanet exhibited significantly higher ...