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Posts by
Paul Scott Anderson
Why don’t Europa’s plumes have heat signatures?
Europa has been thought to have water vapor plumes similar to those on Saturn's moon Enceladus. But new research shows Europa's plumes differ significantly from those on Enceladus - or, perhaps - don't really exist at all.
October 29, 2018
Old photos provide clues about a planet with giant rings
Photographic plates going back to 1890 are providing new clues as to whether a distant exoplanet has a giant ring system, more than 100 times wider than Saturn's.
October 26, 2018
Astronomers spy 4 giant planets orbiting a very young star
Finding 4 giant planets orbiting another star isn't too unusual these days. But these massive planets are the largest known to orbit such a young star - CI Tau - only 2 million years old.
October 23, 2018
Europa may have towering ice spikes on its surface
Penitentes - large pointed spikes of ice - are known on Earth and Pluto. Jupiter's moon Europa might have them, too, according to new research. If they're there, they could make a future landing on Europa tricky.
October 20, 2018
Report calls for NASA to ramp up search for alien biosignatures
NASA is again being encouraged to expand its search for alien life - not just intelligent life - all forms of life, including microbes.
October 18, 2018
New technology may help solve mystery of life’s origins
How did life on Earth begin? A new technology, called Planet Simulator, might finally help solve the mystery.
October 14, 2018
Astronomers detect ghostly afterglow of cosmic explosion
For the 1st time, astronomers have detected the faint radio afterglow of a ghost explosion - a kind of cosmic sonic boom - possibly the result of a weird kind of gamma-ray burst.
October 10, 2018
Construction begins on ESA’s Plato planet-hunter
The European Space Agency's next big planet-hunting mission - the Plato space telescope - will continue the search for rocky and potentially habitable worlds orbiting other stars.
October 7, 2018
New dwarf planet nicknamed The Goblin
The Goblin is a very small dwarf planet, very far away. It might help astronomers in their search for a much bigger world - the long-sought Planet X.
October 4, 2018
Origami-inspired habitats for the moon and Mars
An innovative plan by the EuroMoonMars project uses Japanese origami - the art of folding paper into interesting shapes - to design and develop habitats for future human space explorers.
October 1, 2018
