solar

Astronomers Detect Secret Water Reserves in The Largest Canyon in The Solar System

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A vast system of canyons that dramatically scars the face of Mars could be harboring reserves of hidden water. An unusually high quantity of hydrogen has been detected in the heart of the 4,000 kilometers (2,485 miles) of canyons known as Valles Marineris, nicknamed the Grand Canyon of Mars. We know this thanks to new … Read more

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has touched the sun in daring mission milestone

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The Parker Solar Probe has finally reached the atmosphere of the sun. The NASA spacecraft spent more than three years winding its way by planets and creeping gradually closer to our star to learn more about the origin of the solar wind, which pushes charged particles across the solar system. Since solar activity has a … Read more

Parker Solar Probe: NASA spacecraft is the first to ‘touch’ the sun

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By Leah Crane An illustration of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Joy Ng NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has reached out to our star and touched its atmosphere. On 28 April, it became the first spacecraft to enter the upper atmosphere of the sun, called the corona. This milestone was announced on 14 … Read more

For The First Time in History, a Spacecraft Has ‘Touched’ The Sun

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In an incredible historic first, a human-made spacecraft has swooped in and made contact with the Sun. On 28 April 2021, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe actually flew into and through the solar corona, the upper atmosphere of the Sun. Not only did it live to tell the tale – proving the efficacy of Parker’s high-tech … Read more

How did the solar system form?

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Solar system formation began approximately 4.5 billion years ago, when gravity pulled a cloud of dust and gas together to form our solar system. Scientists can’t directly study how our own solar system formed, but combining observations of young stellar systems in a range of wavelengths with computer simulations has led to models of what … Read more

Is our solar system a cosmic oddity? Evidence from exoplanets says yes

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When we started finding planetary systems around other stars we thought many of them would be like ours. We’ve now found hundreds – and it’s so far, so wrong Space 1 December 2021 By Stuart Clark Duc LOng Once upon a time, there was a solar system. In it lived four small rocky planets called … Read more

Solar panels: Transparent coating causes snow and ice to slide off

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Snow and ice block sunlight from reaching solar panels and stop energy generation, but a new material can cause them to slide off Technology 9 December 2021 By Matthew Sparkes The solar panels on the left are covered in a snow-shedding coating Anish Tuteja et al. Settling snow and ice can significantly dampen the output … Read more

5 Things to Know About The James Webb Space Telescope Before It Launches

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The James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful space observatory ever built, is finally set for launch in late December after decades of waiting. An engineering marvel, it will help answer fundamental questions about the Universe, peering back in time 13 billion years. Here are five things to know.   1. Giant gold mirror The telescope’s … Read more

Scientists Say We Should Rethink Moons as Planets… And Reinstate Pluto

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The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has a very strict definition of the word “planet”. According to the definition – drafted, tweaked, and agreed upon in August 2006 – an astronomical body is officially a planet if it orbits the Sun, has sufficient mass to be spherical, and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit.   … Read more