On Monday, Jupiter will pass closer than ever before in 59 years – providing an excellent opportunity for telescopes and binoculars. People often respond that Venus is the closest planet to our home planet; however, according to a new study this assumption is actually incorrect. Venus Answering “What is the closest planet to Earth?” usually […]
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Mars is often considered Earth’s twin, sharing many similar qualities such as its long Martian days referred to as sols. Mars shares Earth’s axial tilt and spin period, giving rise to similar seasons like spring, summer, autumn and winter. However, its orbital eccentricity is larger. Daytime Mars is often referred to as Earth’s “Twin.” It
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Venus is often referred to as Earth’s sister planet because they share many similar characteristics such as size and density. Venus can come closer than any other planet in our Solar System to approaching us at its closest point – typically reaching this threshold every 115 months or so. However, recent research indicates that Mercury
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Mars has an unusual atmosphere and features an outer crust comprised of rocks covered by an extremely thick layer of water-ice. Mars is home to Olympus Mons, the tallest volcano in our solar system. Some astronomers have observed seasonal dark lines on Mars’s surface which might represent canals created by intelligent Martians – an idea
Scientists from Belgium’s University of Liege have announced the discovery of an Earth-like planet orbiting within its star’s habitable zone. It was originally discovered using NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope and later confirmed by ground telescopes. Wolf 1069b offers 16 days of sunshine per year; yet due to certain characteristics it cannot support life. 1. Size
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Even though Mars has lost much of its overall magnetic field, some areas still create unique atmospheric electrodynamic structures – magnetic loops and cusps which alter how ions leave its atmosphere. Sabine Stanley and her colleagues have developed an effective technique for artificially creating these structures. Their paper published in Science details how this can
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If asked by an average person which planet was closest to Earth, most would likely say Venus. After all, Venus comes before Mars chronologically and has an orbit that aligns it closely with most other planets in our Solar System. But is that true? A recent study suggests Mercury as being closer than all the
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Layers play an essential part in shaping planet’s history and future development, including their melting effects on mantle material and volcanic eruptions that alter climate, foster life or destroy it. Scientists are now using the InSight lander to record marsquakes to examine these layers that lie below Mars, hoping that by doing so they will
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Astronomers on a search for extraterrestrial life have located “Earth’s twin” outside our solar system – Proxima Centauri b – orbiting its nearest star. Scientists discovered the planet by tracking how its host star’s light reflects off of it; its host star lies only 11.2 days away, making this world potentially habitable. Proxima Centauri Proxima
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