Scientists created a maximum likelihood model using a combination of numerical simulations and observations of a number of Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs). This led them to parameters that show the most probable location for Planet Nine.
Research report: arxiv.org/abs/2108.09868
Read more: earthsky.org/space/planet-nine-orbit-map/
Image credit: Mike Brown/ Caltech
Astronomers have identified a new class of habitable exoplanets, which they dubbed Hycean worlds. These are hot planets covered in oceans that have an atmosphere rich in hydrogen. Hycean planets can be up to 2.6 times larger than Earth and have atmospheric temperatures up to nearly 200 degrees Celsius. They appear to be incredibly abundant throughout our home galaxy and could host microbial life similar to the extremophiles that thrive in some of Earth's harshest environments.
Research report: arxiv.org/abs/2108.10888
Read more: www.space.com/new-class-habitable-exoplanets-hycea…
Image credit: Amanda Smith, University of Cambridge
Giant star VVV-WIT-08 was blocked for 200 days by some unknown huge & opaque object. At that time only 3% of its light was reaching to us.
Read more: theabsolutecosmos.blogspot.co...
This photo was taken on 27th January, 2021 from Tilandi Top campsite on Brahmatal Trek in Chamoli, Uttarakhand. The output is of over 50 stacked images processed on PIPP, Autostacker and Adobe Lightroom.
Planet Hunters TESS has announced the discovery of two gaseous exoplanets orbiting around a bright Sun-like star named HD 152843.
Read more: theabsolutecosmos.blogspot.com/2021/06/Planet-Hunt…
Astronomers discover a massive intermediate age star cluster......Dubbed Valparaiso 1, this open cluster contains at least fifteen thousand stars. It is about 75 million years old.
Read more: theabsolutecosmos.blogspot.com/2021/06/Astronomers…
Recently, a team of international scientists reported the first discovery of a transiting circumbinary planet found from a single sector of TESS data. The newly detected circumbinary planet has been designated TIC 172900988b, and it is slightly bigger than Jupiter. The exoplanet transits both of its parent stars.
Read more: theabsolutecosmos.blogspot.com/2021/05/TESS-detect…
Image credit: An artist's impression of exoplanet TOI 133b, orbiting two stars. (NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith)
With the help of ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array), scientists have spotted the oldest known spiral galaxy designated BRI 1335-0417. The galaxy was formed 12.4 billion years ago, i.e. just 1.4 billion years after the Big Bang. Observations have revealed that its spiral structure is extending 15,000 light-years from the centre, which is about one-third of the size of our galaxy.
Read more: theabsolutecosmos.blogspot.com/2021/05/ALMA-detect…
Image credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), T. Tsukui & S. Iguchi
In an unexpected turn of events, two separate teams (of scientists) have reported the discovery of heavy metal vapours in the atmospheres of comets in and beyond our Solar System.
Read more: theabsolutecosmos.blogspot.com/2021/05/Heavy-metal…
Image credit: Comet NEOWISE seen from Rio Rancho in New Mexico, USA/Ganapathy Kumar
The meteor showers from the comets that orbit the Sun in very elongated paths are hard to detect because such comets spread their trails (of debris) pretty thin, or they can even eject these trails out of the Solar System completely. However, according to a new meteor shower survey, scientists report that they can now detect meteor showers from the trails in the orbit of long period-comets that approach Earth orbit closely and return once every 4,000 years.
Read more: theabsolutecosmos.blogspot.com/2021/05/Rare-long-p…
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