The past 20 years of exoplanet discovery have unveiled many peculiar planets in the Milky Way. Today’s paper investigates if two classes of these odd planets could be the same planet at different points in their evolutionary history – if hot Jupiters can transform into super-Earths!
What were the first galaxies in the Universe like? Current observations can only access a handful of these ancients. However, a new simulation has synthesized millions to better understand the galaxies of 13 billion years ago.
4.5 billion years ago, a Mars-sized body was believed to have impacted a young Earth, and this planetesimal’s obliterated remains coalesced into what is now our Moon. However, certain striking similarities between the Earth and Moon question the likelihood of this event. Two recent papers investigated the giant impact scenario, only to come to opposite conclusions. Read on to hear more about this lunar enigma.
The massive binary star system Eta Carinae has been examined like never before in a recent study. Read on to hear the new discoveries from this approach, and the potential it opens for astrophysical research.
The Kepler Space Telescope was the workhorse of exoplanet discovery until its second reaction wheel failed, rendering it incapable of continuing its original mission. Now, Kepler is back in the game of planet hunting.