Fading Friends: the evolution of the Earth-Moon distance
Have a close friend that you are losing contact with? Well the Earth and Moon are no different. Read about a recent effort to model the growing distance between them.
Tidal Tugs Shed Light on Binary Companions
How can tides help us find hidden compact companions and yield detailed physics on stellar binaries?
Insert Tidal Here: Stretching and Squashing the Universe
Tide goes in, dark matter halos come out, today’s authors can simulate that! With separate universe simulations!
Boomerang, Slingshot, or Torque-Dependent? How to Classify Your Favorite Ring-Satellite System
When moons and rings orbit together, the results can be crazy. This paper proposes three regimes to more easily understand these complex interactions.
What’s in a Heartbeat?
Instead of happily orbiting in circles with constant velocity, the two stars spend most of their time far apart, and a few harrowing hours racing past each other. Or, to put it another way: hours and hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror. This is a heartbeat star.
How to Keep Warm Outside the Habitable Zone
Today’s paper is too awesome to be contained in merely one astrobite, so we’ve split it into two parts. In Part 1, find out how you can keep warm even if you’re far outside your star’s habitable zone (if “you” are a planet or moon, that is). Tune in tomorrow for Part 2: Superhabitability and You!