An Explanation for Saturn’s Hexagon
For over three decades, we’ve been gathering observations of the mysterious hexagonal cloud pattern encircling Saturn’s north pole. Now, researchers believe they have a model that can better explain...
View ArticleRotating Stars Can Help Planets Become Habitable
What characteristics must a terrestrial planet exhibit to have the potential to host life? Orbiting within the habitable zone of its host star is certainly a good start, but there’s another important...
View ArticleTemperature Swings in a Hot Jupiter’s Atmosphere
Weather variations in the atmosphere of a planet on a highly eccentric orbit are naturally expected to be extreme. Now, a study has directly measured the wild changes in the atmosphere of a highly...
View ArticleClues From Pluto’s Ions
Nearly a year ago, in July 2015, the New Horizons spacecraft passed by the Pluto system. The wealth of data amassed from that flyby is still being analyzed — including data from the Solar Wind Around...
View ArticleWater Clouds in the Atmosphere of a Jupiter-Like Brown Dwarf
Lying a mere 7.2 light-years away, WISE 0855 is the nearest known planetary-mass object. This brown dwarf, a failed star just slightly more massive than Jupiter, is also the coldest known compact body...
View ArticleK2’s First Five-Planet System
What’s the latest from the Kepler K2 mission? K2 has found its first planetary system containing more than three planets — an exciting five-planet system located ~380 light-years from Earth!...
View ArticleAn Ocean of Magma
Editor’s note: Astrobites is a graduate-student-run organization that digests astrophysical literature for undergraduate students. As part of the new partnership between the AAS and astrobites, we will...
View ArticleCould Flaring Stars Change Our Views of Their Planets?
As the exoplanet count continues to increase, we are making progressively more measurements of exoplanets’ outer atmospheres through spectroscopy. A new study, however, reveals that these measurements...
View ArticlePreparing for the Temperature Drop at Night
Editor’s note: Astrobites is a graduate-student-run organization that digests astrophysical literature for undergraduate students. As part of the partnership between the AAS and astrobites, we repost...
View ArticleA Volcanic Hydrogen Habitable Zone
Editor’s note: Astrobites is a graduate-student-run organization that digests astrophysical literature for undergraduate students. As part of the partnership between the AAS and astrobites, we repost...
View ArticleFeatured Image: Experimental Simulation of Melting Meteoroids
Ever wonder what experimental astronomy looks like? Some days, it looks like this piece of rock in a wind tunnel (click for a better look!). In this photo, a piece of agrillite (a terrestrial rock) is...
View ArticleHabitability of the TRAPPIST-1 System
The recent discovery of seven Earth-sized, terrestrial planets around an M dwarf star was met with excitement and optimism. But how habitable are these planets actually likely to be? A recent study of...
View ArticleA Partly Cloudy Exoplanet
Direct imaging of exoplanets was once only possible for the brightest of planets orbiting the dimmest of stars — but improving technology is turning this into an increasingly powerful technique. In a...
View ArticleI See Skies of Blue and Clouds of White
Editor’s note: Astrobites is a graduate-student-run organization that digests astrophysical literature for undergraduate students. As part of the partnership between the AAS and astrobites, we repost...
View ArticleThrowing Icebergs at White Dwarfs
Where do the metals come from that pollute the atmospheres of many white dwarfs? Close-in asteroids may not be the only culprits! A new study shows that distant planet-size and icy objects could share...
View ArticleGrounded Eyes on Distant Watery Skies
What can we learn about exoplanets from high-resolution, ground-based observations? A new view of the nearby upsilon Andromedae system has revealed a great deal about the system’s closest-in exoplanet...
View ArticleDetecting Exoplanet Life in Our Proximity
Editor’s note: Astrobites is a graduate-student-run organization that digests astrophysical literature for undergraduate students. As part of the partnership between the AAS and astrobites, we repost...
View ArticleA History of Water Loss in the TRAPPIST-1 Exoplanets
Editor’s note: Astrobites is a graduate-student-run organization that digests astrophysical literature for undergraduate students. As part of the partnership between the AAS and astrobites, we repost...
View ArticleModeling Limitless Skies
Editor’s note: Astrobites is a graduate-student-run organization that digests astrophysical literature for undergraduate students. As part of the partnership between the AAS and astrobites, we...
View ArticleSelections from 2017: Hostile Environment Around TRAPPIST-1
Editor’s note: In these last two weeks of 2017, we’ll be looking at a few selections that we haven’t yet discussed on AAS Nova from among the most-downloaded papers published in AAS journals this year....
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