New Webb observations of two exoplanets TRAPPIST-1b and TRAPPIST-1c show blistering days and frozen nights, offering the first detailed climate maps of rocky exoplanets and dimming hopes for habitability. This artist’s impression shows an imagined view from the surface one of the three exoplanets orbiting the ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1 38.8 light-years from Earth. These…
A new statistical analysis of archival sky surveys from the early Cold War has found that mysterious, short-lived bursts of light in the night sky were more likely to appear around the time of above-ground nuclear weapons tests and to increase alongside reports of unexplained aerial phenomena (UAPs). Four exposures of the 3 x 3…
Using the Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) onboard the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have characterized the atmosphere of TOI-5205b, an extrasolar gas giant orbiting a small, dim red dwarf star. These observations have revealed an atmosphere unexpectedly poor in heavy elements, raising fresh questions about how such ‘forbidden’ alien worlds take shape and evolve. The…
Using the Immersion Grating Infrared Spectrometer (IGRINS) on the Gemini South telescope at the International Gemini Observatory, astronomers have directly measured the atmospheric composition of WASP-189b and found it echoes the elemental makeup of its host star, offering the clearest evidence yet that planets inherit their chemical identities from the disks that formed them. An…
By Will Dunham WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) – Astronomers have spotted a planet orbiting a star in our neighborhood of the Milky Way galaxy that presents a unique hellscape – covered with a perpetual ocean of magma and enveloped by a noxious and fiercely hot sulfur-rich atmosphere. The molten planet’s diameter is more than 60%…
