An international team of scientists has discovered un systematic planetario a 1.200 light years away, that houses twin planets of the Earth in “habitable zone” – a region where conditions are favorable to retain liquid water and potentially harbor life . Josh Winn , Associate Professor of Physics at MIT , is among the researchers who made the discovery , published this week in the journal Science.
This newly discovered system is home to at least five planets , all with dimensions comparable to the Earth . Just like in the solar system , the orbits of the planets are likely to be aligned with each other . We are fortunate that , from our vantage point on Earth , we can see the planetary system almost along side her , and we can observe all the planets . Here's how the planets have been discovered , and measure their size : detecting the small decrease in brightness as a planet passes in front of the star . The star is about 30 percent smaller than the Sun , and illuminates the planets with a less intense and more light red . At the time, our knowledge is limited to the diameters of the planets and their orbital distances . do not know how they are made these planets , although it is plausible that they are mainly of rock and iron , Earth-like. We also do not know what could be in their atmospheres , or on their surface .
Many of us still imprinted in my mind the images of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 that literally plunged into Jupiter's atmosphere . The massive gravity of Jupiter tore the comet . Since Jupiter has an atmosphere so dense , all they were able to see the effects of the impact on the thick atmosphere but not on the surface of the planet .
Now the next planet probably bombarded by a comet will be our neighbor Mars . Astronomers say that in fact there is a small possibility that Mars could be hit by a comet in 2014.
The most interesting part of the potential impact on the surface of Mars that are currently present on the Martian surface probes and satellites in orbit around the planet that could raise an incredible amount of information for scientists . Another interesting fact is that Mars does not have the thick Jovian atmosphere to soften or obscure the impact .
Noctis Labyrinthus, the 'Labyrinth of Night' , is a place located on the western edge of the Valles Marineris , the Grand Canyon of Mars . It 'was one of the first places photographed by Mars Express in June 2006. Labyrinthus Noctis is a region closely linked to the tectonic uplift of the nearby volcanic region of Tharsis , home to the largest volcano in the solar system , the Monte Olimpo.
Young formations are visible on the upper surfaces , with fault lines that cross each other in different directions , suggesting multiple episodes of tectonic movements .
This scene is a composite of about half a dozen images .
About a month after the meteora fall in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk Charles Bolden, head of NASA , said "pray" if it can get a new asteroid .
“ There are no funds ” to create a system capable of destroying the potential dangers space . In any case managers and NASA officials have said that most of the great “near-Earth objects” are monitored and do not pose an immediate threat .
“Unfortunately, the number of 'city ’ potential victims is very large asteroid ,” ha dichiarato John Holdren, assistant to President Barack Obama for Science and Technology . It c ONGRESS ordered NASA to improve the methods to be able to identify and track the 90 percent of meteors over the diameters of 140 meters by 2020. This is a task that can not be reached within the 2030, with the current budget forecasts , as stated by Bolden .
For class="OpointSpan"> . ” If you really want to find and identify asteroids and near-Earth objects early enough to do something , is necessary that there are telescopes in space “. And to do this you need :
So far, we know the presence of extrasolar planets observed in almost all the same . But no one had ever studied the atmosphere of these planets .
Well you, an international research group coordinated by astronomer Canadian Quinn Konopacky , the University of Toronto has managed and mapped the planet's atmosphere HR 8799c, a 130 light years from Earth.
The planet is a gas giant big seven times Jupiter . L'analisi, made by the high-resolution spectrograph Osiris , the Keck Observatory in Hawaii , showed the presence of carbon monoxide and water vapor in the atmosphere .
calculating the ratio between carbon and oxygen, it was found that the planet was created through the mechanism of growth of the core , that a process similar to that given in the solar system and that has given rise to gas giant planets in the outer regions of the Sun .
this beautiful picture taken by the Cassini spacecraft .
If vede Venus shine like a beacon through the rings of Saturn , just right , at the top of the image .
Venere è, with Mercury , Terra e Marte , one of the rocky planets of the inner solar system terrestrial. Although it has a similar size, mass and composition rock on Earth , Venus is far from being a true twin .
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