Space

A Swedish research group has played an important role in the discovery of a new type of planet. The unusual celestial body GJ3512b has led to new theories about how planets are formed. The unique thing about the planet is its size. Never before has such a large planet been found around such a small star. The discovery, now published in the journal Science, has forced scientists to reevaluate theories of how planets are formed. "We have come to the conclusion that the planet cannot have been formed by classical theories," says Anders Johansen, astronomy professor at Lund University. Has collapsed According to the classic explanation, planets are formed by dust particles colliding with each other and then gradually forming larger bodies. But then the newly discovered planet, named GJ...

Elon Musk's space company SpaceX may send people from the US to the space station ISS during the first quarter of next year. This is what Nasa chief executive Jim Bridenstine says during a visit to the company's headquarters, with the flap of "everything goes according to plan" in the upcoming tests. The collaboration with Nasa will be the first time Spacex is attempting a manned spacecraft and the first time Nasa will send astronauts from the United States to the ISS since 2011. Since then, the Space Agency has paid to take Russian vessels to the station. Elon Musk and NASA chief Jim Bridenstine have previously argued publicly about the project - Bridenstine has complained via Twitter that Musk's construction of the space capsule has dragged out at the time. Musk then blamed N...

Researchers have investigated the chemical composition in the atmosphere of 19 exoplanets. In fourteen of them, large amounts of water vapor were detected. The University of Cambridge has led a team of scientists who have looked at atmospheric data from 19 exoplanets to compile the temperatures and chemistry of the planets. It is the most thorough study of its kind. The study included everything from small versions of Neptune that are only ten times larger than Earth, to super-Jupiter whose size is 600 times larger than our own planet. The temperature range of the planets has been between comfortable 20 degrees and a glass-melting heat of 2,000 degrees. Of course, the most interesting aspect was the presence of water. The researchers conclude that the presence of water vapor is no...

A European satellite has been launched into space from French Guiana to explore planets outside our solar system - so-called exoplanets. The telescope, which was named Cheops, was postponed by the Russian Soyuz craft and will observe stars outside the solar system known to have planets, according to the European Space Agency Esa. It aired on Wednesday morning, a day later than planned, as technical problems were discovered just over an hour before the scheduled departure on Tuesday. The telescope measures 30 cm in diameter and has been designed to measure the density, composition and size of several planets. The goal is to study how the planets are constructed, which is considered a major step in the work of figuring out what is needed for life in places other than the earth. It c...

The boundary between the Earth's atmosphere and space goes far beyond what we have thought so far. In fact, far above the moon. The Earth's atmosphere is difficult to examine as it is so extremely thin in the boundary of space. But now a research group has used data from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite, which is co-owned by ESA and Nasa, and discovered that the outermost atmosphere extends far beyond what the experts so far thought. The outermost extension of the atmosphere, the exosphere, consists at the far end of a thin cloud of neutral hydrogen, which in English is called geocorona. It is this field that researchers have now discovered is further away, Nasa reports. The moon moves in the middle of the atmosphere So far, the conclusions have been that t...

Is there life in space? The answer to the eternal question can be found at Kepler-438b. It is a newly discovered planet that is considered to be the most similar to Earth. Kepler-438b must not sound so exciting on the name. However, among scientists in the American Astronomical Society, it is generating great interest. The planet is one of seven planets discovered by scientists at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center. This through the space telescope Kepler. What makes Kepler-438b so interesting is that it plus the other planets is within an area where life would be theoretically possible. This is because it is at such a distance to a star (sun) that water does not boil and evaporate, or freezes to permanent ice. Kepler-438b is estimated to be slightly larger than the earth and have roc...

In parts of Mars, ice is only a few centimeters below the surface, according to researchers at Nasa. The discovery can make it much easier to visit our neighboring planet. If we are to colonize Mars in the future, access to water will be crucial. Both as drinking water and to be able to extract rocket fuel, for example. The fact that there is water on our neighboring planet has long been known, but now scientists at Nasa have released what they call a "tax map" where they have mapped out how easily ice is available under the surface. It has been published as part of an article in the scientific journal Geophysical Research Letter. “You wouldn't need any excavator to dig up the ice. You can use a shovel. We continue to collect data on where ice is buried on Mars, to try to find the...