Topic: Planetary Science

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Kepler epitaph? Eight most intriguing finds of troubled telescope.

Kepler, the space telescope designed to help us find other Earth-like planets, is on the fritz. Scientists hope they will be able to fix it remotely, but if they can't, its brief, brilliant career could be over. Here are eight of its most important discoveries.
Man and Mars through history

A look back over centuries at man's attempt to uncover information about the 'Red Planet.'Sources: NASA, American Museum of Natural History, and Scientific American
Star Trek: The Original Series: The 10 greatest episodes (+ video)

Star Trek: The Original Series first aired 46 years ago Friday, and Google is marking the occasion with an elaborate, interactive doodle that includes a number of Trek tropes, including a doomed redshirt, a chief communications officer in soft-focus, a bulkhead full of tribbles, a generic rocky planet, and a whole lot of blinking and beeping and flashing lights.The doodle is based on a first-season episode titled 'The Arena,' in which Captian Kirk is transported to a planet that looks suspiciously like the outskirts of Los Angeles, where he must face off against a reptilian humanoid. By our calculations, 'The Arena' was the 17th greatest episode. Here are our top ten:
Five places we might find life in our own solar system

Life on Earth occupies some bizarre places – pools of pitch, deep-sea hydrothermal vents, and lightless lakes buried under glaciers. While scientists hunt for hospitable planets circling other stars, the solar system has a few candidates. Here are five.
What makes a planet livable? Five things scientists look for.

Scientists have so far detected at least 550 planets outside the solar system – and another 2,000-plus await confirmation. But how to pick out the ones that may be Earth-like havens for life? Here's what one team looks for in assessing any planet's potential habitability and its similarity to Earth's properties.

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Kepler epitaph? Eight most intriguing finds of troubled telescope.

Kepler, the space telescope designed to help us find other Earth-like planets, is on the fritz. Scientists hope they will be able to fix it remotely, but if they can't, its brief, brilliant career could be over. Here are eight of its most important discoveries.
Why do planets farthest from sun have highest winds? Team closes in on answer

The planets beyond Mars exhibit the highest winds speeds of any other planets in the solar system. It's a puzzle, because less energy from the sun is available there to drive higher winds.
Kepler, a prolific hunter for other Earths, is suddenly in trouble

Kepler's quest for an Earth-like planet orbiting a sun-like star has been put on hold, NASA said, after the spacecraft sensed it was facing in the wrong direction and put itself in 'safe mode.'
How Einstein's theory of special relativity helped find a new planet (+video)

To find the planet, astronomers used Einstein's theory as it pertains to the intensity of a beam of light. The method could add more exoplanets to a growing list, no 'wobble' or 'transit' required.
How greenhouse gases might make humongous super-Earths habitable (+video)

On Earth, greenhouse gases are blamed for climate change, but elsewhere in the cosmos, they could help a planet not at all like Earth be habitable, one scientist suggests.
Spring break over, Curiosity rover goes back to work

Curiosity's one-month spring vacation, caused by Mars slipping behind the sun, is now over. "Can you hear me now? Conjunction is over," tweeted Curiosity's handlers today.
What's a monster hurricane doing on top of Saturn? (+video)

A monster hurricane at Saturn's north pole, spotted by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, has an eye 1,250 miles wide and inner eye wall winds of 330 miles an hour. Its energy source is a mystery.
Planet hunting: How MIT's TESS will bring search for life closer to home

Scientists with MIT's TESS project hope to build on the lessons of the successful Kepler planet-hunting mission and find planetary systems close enough for telescopes to study in detail.
Livable super-Earths? Two candidates among Kepler's latest finds.

Researchers unveiled a total of three planets Thursday, including two potentially livable super-Earths. The discoveries bring the Kepler team closer to its goal.
New Kepler exoplanets 'best candidates' for hosting life

Data from NASA's planet-hunting Kepler mission has revealed two small, potentially rocky planets within their star's habitable zone.
Curiosity rover snaps images of huge Martian mountain

NASA has assembled a view of the Red Planet's Mount Sharp from dozens of telephoto images snapped by the Curiosity Mars rover.
Curiosity Mars rover suffers another glitch, remains in safe mode

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has put its scientific exploration on hold while it deals with a minor software problem.
How a humongous alien planet could explain how our solar system was born

The discovery of a colossal gas giant some 130 light-years from Earth could help explain the origins of our own solar system, say scientists.
Huge flood on Mars? Orbiter data shows evidence of ancient megaflood.

Huge flood on Mars: Data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter hints at at extensive flooding in the Red Planet's ancient past.
Alien planet photo: Telescope spots gas giant formation

Alien planet photo: In an astronomical first, a telescope in Chile has spotted the formation of a gas giant in the dust cloud orbiting a nearby star.
Telescope spots formation of alien planet

In the first discovery of its kind, a telescope in Chile has detected a baby gas giant forming in the dust cloud around a nearby star.
Mars might still harbor life, say scientists

Liquid water might flow seasonally at some places on Mars, potentially supporting microbial life, say some researchers.
In historic first, Mars Curiosity rover drills into Martian rock

NASA's Mars Curiosity rover has sent home photos of samples that it gathered from deep inside a rock on Mars. It is the first time a robot has ever drilled into a rock on any planet other than Earth.
NASA telescope spots smallest planet yet

Located some 210 light years from Earth, Kepler-37b is only slightly larger than our moon, making it the smallest planet ever discovered.
Discovery of smallest planet yet a 'milestone' in search for another Earth

The Kepler space telescope has found a planet smaller than Mercury orbiting a distant star. The discovery suggests Kepler has the precision to find a planet more like Earth.
Astronomers discover smallest planet ever

Orbiting a star some 215 light-years away, Kepler-37b is smaller than Mercury, the smallest planet in our solar system.
State of the Union: NASA's 'Mohawk Guy' will sit with Michelle Obama

At the State of the Union address tomorrow night, First Lady Michelle Obama will be joined by NASA's 'Mohawk Guy,' the Iranian-American Bobak Ferdowsi who attracted attention during the landing of NASA's latest Mars mission, the Curiosity rover.
Earth-like planets next door? Prospect could point to 9.6 billion more

A new study calculates that the nearest Earth-like planet may be only 13 light-years away – and argues there may be more habitable planets out there than we thought.
Earth-like planets next door? Prospect could point to 9.6 billion more

A new study calculates that the nearest Earth-like planet may be only 13 light-years away – and argues there may be more habitable planets out there than we thought.
Milky Way could be home to 4.5 billion Earth-like planets

Astronomers have calculated that 6 percent of our galaxy's most common type of star probably host temperate, Earth-sized planets, meaning that a habitable alien Earth could be just a dozen light years away.