A giant exomoon hundreds of times the size of Earth is revealing secrets about how giant planets like Jupiter and Saturn formed. They might also help astronomers find planets where life may thrive.
Most people think that many millions of years ago, Saturn didn’t have rings at all. Instead, it had a big moon moving around it. Eventually, the moon burst and broke into pieces.
This hot, acidic neighbor with its surface veiled in thick clouds hasn’t benefited from the attention showered on Mars and the Moon. But Venus may offer insights into the fate of the Earth.
A 100-metre-wide asteroid passed just 70,000km from Earth on Thursday, and we had little warning it was about to happen. What threat is posed by asteroids and how do we find them?
Yes, the Sun absolutely spins. In fact, everything in the universe spins. Some things spin faster than the Sun, some are slower and some things spin ‘backwards’.
The new era of space exploration is characterized by an emphasis on diversity and international cooperation. But there’s a lot of work to do before there’s gender equality in STEM fields and at NASA.
Voyager 2 launched in 1977 and visited all four gas giants in our Solar System. It’s now almost 18 billion kilometres from Earth and has finally joined its twin in interstellar space.
We will never see ‘Oumuamua again, and we may never know exactly what it is. But with the right kind of media coverage it could inspire some kids to take up a career in science.
Jonti Horner, University of Southern Queensland e Jake Clark, University of Southern Queensland
Whether you call it Planet X or Planet Nine, talk of another planet lurking in our Solar system won’t go away. So what does the discovery of a new object – nicknamed “The Goblin” – add to the debate?