The last decade has seen a huge increase in the number of known exoplanets (those outside of our own solar system). NASA’s Kepler mission has been responsible for a great deal of these planet discoveries in the last few years…
“Wobbly” Planet Spotted in Binary Star System
NASA this week revealed that the Kepler Space Telescope has spotted a planet with a very erratic orbit. The planet, named Kepler-413b, orbits around a pair of stars and performs what astronomers are describing as a wobble as its spins.…
Nvidia Tegra K1 Brings PC Graphics To Mobile
Mobile graphics have come a long way since the original iPhone. We now have full 3D games on mobile that look just as good, if not better, than launch titles on the Xbox 360 and PS3. Nvidia obviously doesn’t think…
Clouds Mapped on Jupiter-Like Exoplanet
Though much of the agency is preparing to shut down, NASA this week announced that astronomers have mapped the clouds of a planet outside our own solar system. Using the Kepler and Spitzer space telescopes, astronomers have created a cloud…
Life on Earth Can Last At Least Another 1.75 Billion Years
In a new study conducted at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom, researchers have estimated that the earth will be able to support life for another 1.75 to 3.25 billion years, unless there’s a nuclear holocaust, a…
Kepler Space Telescope Broken, NASA Gives Up on Restoration
Sometimes the best physicists, engineers, and mathematicians in the world can’t save a failing satellite. NASA announced today that it has given up attempts to restore the malfunctioning Kepler Space Telescope. One of the Kepler’s four reaction wheels failed back…
NASA’s Kepler Finds Extra-Solar Planets Smaller Than Earth
Over the past year, NASA’s Kepler mission has found hundreds of possible planets outside of our solar system, and even a few candidates for Earth-like planets. This week, astronomers revealed that a new system has been found that contains planets…
Earth-Sized Planets May be Close by, Shows Study
Astronomers this week published a new study that estimates six percent of red dwarf stars may have Earth-sized planets orbiting within their “habitable zone” – the area around a star in which liquid water can exist on the surface of…
461 New Planet Candidates Discovered by NASA’s Kepler, Including Four Earth-Like Ones
Astronomers last week announced that they estimate there to be 100 billion planets throughout the Milky Way Galaxy. This week, Astronomers announced 461 new candidates for extra-solar planets have been discovered. NASA‘s Kepler mission has been discovering exoplanets for years…
100 Billion Planets Populate the Milky Way Galaxy, Say Astronomers
For years now, NASA‘s Kepler mission has been confirming the existence of planets outside our solar system. Now, a new review of Kepler data suggests that there are billions upon billions of planets just in the Milky Way galaxy. “There…