Physics and Astronomy News Archive: December 2010

Astronomers Detect First Carbon-rich Exoplanet

Source: MIT Posted: 12/18/10

Discovery opens door to new class of exoplanets, including rocky planets rich in diamond and graphite.

Hot Plasma Explosions Inflate Saturn's Magnetic Field

Source: JPL/NASA Posted: 12/17/10

A new analysis based on data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft finds a causal link between mysterious, periodic signals from Saturn's magnetic field and explosions of hot ionized gas, known as plasma, around the planet.

NASA Probe Sees Solar Wind Decline

Source: JPL/NASA Posted: 12/15/10

The 33-year odyssey of NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft has reached a distant point at the edge of our solar system where there is no outward motion of solar wind.

Cassini Spots Potential Ice Volcano on Saturn Moon

Source: JPL/NASA Posted: 12/15/10

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has found possible ice volcanoes on Saturn's moon Titan that are similar in shape to those on Earth that spew molten rock.

Fourth Planet Discovered in Extra-Solar System

Source: LLNL Posted: 12/15/10

Astronomers have discovered a fourth giant planet, joining three others that, in 2008, were the subject of the first-ever pictures of a planetary system orbiting another star.

Learning From Hot Jupiters

Source: MIT Posted: 12/15/10

By studying how massive planets may have formed, MIT astrophysicist sets the stage for studying smaller, more Earthlike planets.

Astronomers Use Moon in Effort to Corral Elusive Cosmic Particles

Source: NRAO Posted: 12/6/10

Seeking to detect mysterious, ultra-high-energy neutrinos from distant regions of space, a team of astronomers used the Moon as part of an innovative telescope system for the search.

Massive Galaxies Formed When Universe Was Young

Source: Tufts Posted: 12/1/10

Some of the universe's most massive galaxies may have formed billions of years earlier than current scientific models predict, according to surprising new research findings.