A Jupiter-mass object orbiting a brown dwarf could become the first confirmed moon beyond our Solar System. A massive object appears to be circling a brown dwarf in the CD-35 2722 system, but calling it a moon is not straightforward. Unlike moons in our Solar System, it does not orbit a planet. Instead, it travels [...]

A £3 million investment could help secure a leading UK role in NASA’s future search for life on nearby planets. An Earth-like planet orbiting a nearby star would appear as little more than a dim point beside a light source 10 billion times brighter. British astronomers are preparing technology that could help NASA separate that [...]

A giant planet spent more than a decade concealed inside one of astronomy’s most closely watched star systems. Astronomers have discovered a planet named Beta Pictoris d orbiting a young star just 63 light-years from Earth. The gas giant is about 100 times fainter than Beta Pictoris b, the first planet found in the system, [...]

As companies develop large constellations of orbital data center satellites, experts say now is the time to start thinking about some critical space safety topics and rules of the road.

The post Rules of the road needed for orbital data center constellations appeared first on SpaceNews.

The Chicxulub impact not only plunged Earth into an impact winter but also produced a dust blanket that later overheated the planet, according to new research from Purdue University and the University of Colorado, Boulder.

The post Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Didn’t Just Strike Earth, Its Dust Cloud Cooked It appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

A new look at more than two decades’ worth of archival data from NASA’s Spirit mission suggests that the Martian soil may hold iron-bearing minerals -- hematite and altered magnetite -- that were too faint for scientists to detect in real time during the mission.

The post Hidden Clues in Spirit Rover Data Suggest Mars Once Had Far More Water than Scientists Realized appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have discovered a gas giant around a brown dwarf in the stellar system CD-35 2722.

The post Planetary-Mass Exomoon Found Circling Brown Dwarf appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.