Astronomers have obtained new information about the formation of planets around twin stars orbiting each other. Although we are familiar with planets orbiting a single central star (similar to the arrangement of our solar system), more than 50% of the stars in the universe are found in binary systems, meaning they have a companion star.… Read More »
Star Wars fans will certainly enjoy the binary star systems, nicknamed the “Tatooine” systems, a reference to the planet on which Luke Skywalker stood to gaze at the twin suns in Star Wars: A New Hope. It turns out that some planets in real-life versions of these systems may also be receiving a much more… Read More »
A surprisingly low reservoir of methane could explain how a planet around a nearby star has become strangely swollen, according to new observations. James Webb Space Telescope (JWST(). The finding shows that planets’ atmospheres can swell to significant amounts without using esoteric theories of planet formation, astronomers say. “The Webb data tells us that planets… Read More »
Astronomers have discovered a new planetary oddity beyond the solar system, as soft and light as cotton candy. The extrasolar planet, or “exoplanet,” called WASP-193 b, is about 1.5 times as wide as Jupiter but has just over one-tenth the mass of the gas giant in the solar system. This makes it the second lightest… Read More »
At the end of 2023, astronomers made a surprising discovery in the Orion Nebula. Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the team found 40 double planetary mass objects, none of which were orbiting a star. These are called Jupiter Mass Binary Objects, or JuMBOs. In short, this discovery directly challenged both the theories of… Read More »
Astronomers used the James Webb Space Telescope to investigate a stellar nursery full of baby stars in the Orion Nebula. The research helped reveal the impact of radiation from massive stars on planet formation. The Orion Nebula is a huge complex of gas and dust that forms the building blocks of new stars. In fact,… Read More »
Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news about fascinating discoveries, scientific breakthroughs and more. Astronomers used two different exoplanet-detecting satellites to solve a cosmic mystery and reveal a rare family of six planets located about 100 light-years from Earth. This discovery could help scientists unlock the secrets of planet… Read More »
Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news about fascinating discoveries, scientific breakthroughs and more. Astronomers used two different exoplanet-detecting satellites to solve a cosmic mystery and reveal a rare family of six planets located about 100 light-years from Earth. This discovery could help scientists unlock the secrets of planet… Read More »