Latest news with #Earth-like
Sharjah 24
4 days ago
- Science
- Sharjah 24
Astronomy and Space Sciences Master's thesis defense at SAASST
The examining committee included Prof Attaelmanan Gaffar, Professor in the Department of Applied Physics and Astronomy; Prof Mashhoor Al-Wardat, Professor of Astrophysics at UOS and Director of the Academic Affairs Department at SAASST; and Prof Ahmad Abushattal, Associate Professor at Al-Hussein Bin Talal University in Jordan, who served as the external examiner. The study aimed to rigorously evaluate the potential for stable and habitable exoplanetary orbits within binary star systems by integrating high-precision astrometric, photometric, and spectrophotometric techniques with dynamical modeling. The binary system HD 21841 was comprehensively analyzed using a novel hybrid framework that combines Tokovinin's orbital fitting with Al-Wardat's synthetic SED method, alongside Gaia and Hipparcos astrometric data. The study derived high-precision stellar parameters and revised orbital elements, showing remarkable consistency and alignment with independent datasets. A critically narrow overlap between the system's conservative habitable zone and the circumbinary orbital stability region was identified, pointing to a unique area where Earth-like planets could potentially exist and remain stable. The thesis demonstrates how binary star systems traditionally viewed as hostile to planetary stability, can in fact, harbor conditions suitable for life. The findings contribute valuable benchmarks for the modeling of exoplanetary systems and establish a scientific precedent for future exploration of habitability in complex stellar environments. By the end of discussion, the committee approved the thesis and awarded the researcher a Master's degree in Astronomy and Space Sciences.
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
How to see Mars visit a bright star and the moon this June
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. This has been a most interesting year to follow Mars. If you've been monitoring the Red Planet since the start of 2025, you have no doubt noted the dramatic change in its brightness as well as the occasional interactions it has had with the moon, bright stars and other celestial objects. Mars travels a little more than half of its orbit each Earth year, and thus has oppositions (that point in the sky where it appears directly opposite to the sun in the sky) every two years plus about 50 days (its "synodic period," which is also the longest for any known planet). Prior to 2025, the last opposition of Mars was on Dec. 8, 2022; after 2025, the next will come on Feb. 19, 2027. It reached opposition this year on Jan. 16 and two nights earlier, on Jan. 14, a nearly full moon passed directly in front of Mars as seen from much of North America. Mars is the most Earth-like planet of all known beyond our own, and it passed closest to Earth during the American morning of Jan. 12, just 3.5 days before opposition. But the 2025 apparition of Mars has been one of the poorer and more distant ones in the planet's 15-to-17-year cycle of oppositions near and far. Just three months after opposition, Mars arrived at aphelion (farthest from the sun) in its eccentric orbit, so we came no closer than 59.7 million miles (96.1 million kilometers) to it last winter — some 5.3 light minutes away. Shining with a yellow-orange hue, it attained its peak brightness, gleaming at magnitude -1.3. That's just a trifle fainter than Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. Ever since Jan. 12, however, it has been receding from Earth, and consequently it has gradually been getting dimmer. So, we're leaving it behind, and ever since Feb. 24, Mars has been traveling in prograde (eastward) motion — a long, straight line around the sky, becoming steadily farther away and smaller. Still, in spite of its fade-down, it continued to put on an eye-catching show during February and March with the "twin stars" of Gemini, Pollux and Castor as the brightest member of a prominent, albeit temporary, triangle. And then, on the evening of May 4, Mars made a very close pass near the Beehive Star Cluster (M44), a very pretty sight as viewed through binoculars or a low-power, wide-field telescope. And during the latter part of June, Mars will again make for a couple of eye-catching shows, teaming up first with a bright star and then, late this month, with Earth's nearest neighbor in space. TOP TELESCOPE PICK: Want to see Alcor and the other stars of the Big Dipper? The Celestron NexStar 4SE is ideal for beginners wanting quality, reliable and quick views of celestial objects. For a more in-depth look at our Celestron NexStar 4SE review. Mars now appears as nothing more than a featureless dot in most telescopes. But on Tuesday evening (June 17), it forms a wonderful naked-eye pairing with the thin, only slightly brighter star Regulus in the constellation of Leo the Lion. Observers in the Americas will see the planet and star 2 degrees apart or less from June 13 through June 20, and one degree or less apart June 15 through June 18. For viewers, around 40 degrees north latitude, Regulus and Mars are side by side, only 1.5 degrees apart on June 14, and Mars is 45 arc minutes (three quarters of one degree) almost straight above Regulus on June 17. That will be the evening when they are closest together. Neither one is exceptionally bright; Regulus shines at magnitude +1.34 and Mars is at magnitude +1.41. But the fact that they will appear so near to each other and are so closely matched in brightness will make them appear to stand out in the early evening sky. Look for them around 10 p.m. local daylight time, roughly one-quarter up in the western sky. In addition to their closeness to each other, look for the orange-gold of Mars and blue-white of Regulus to appear intensified by contrast to each other when they are so close together (as seen with the naked eye or binoculars). On Sunday evening, June 29, a waxing crescent moon, 24% illuminated by the sun, will pass very close to Mars and make for a rather attractive sight, low in the western sky at dusk. The moon, moving around Earth in an easterly direction at roughly its own diameter each hour, will appear to pass just below the orange-gold planet. Even though North America will miss out on seeing the moon pass directly in front of Mars (called an "occultation"), Mars will attract attention as it slowly appears to glide above the moon. The view of the moon occulting Mars will be restricted to parts of Ecuador and Peru. After closest approach, the moon will move slowly away from Mars. Locations to the east (or to the right) of a line running roughly from central Texas through central Ontario will be in various stages of twilight at the moment that the moon and planet are closest together (called a "conjunction"). To the west (or to the right) of that line, the sun will be above the horizon when the two are in conjunction, but will still appear relatively close as darkness falls. For places where the two are closest together within an hour or less after sunset, you'll probably initially need binoculars to pick Mars out against the bright twilight sky. Once the sky has sufficiently darkened, however, Mars will be relatively easy to see. For most locations, the upper limb of the moon will skim to within about 20 arc minutes (one-third of a degree) of Mars. For places across the northern U.S. and Canada, the gap between the two will be a bit larger, while across the southern U.S. and the Caribbean, the gap will be a bit smaller. The table below (calculated exclusively for by Joe Rao) provides the specific details for 15 selected cities in the U.S. and Canada. The table gives civil times (all p.m.) of Mars' closest approach to the edge of the moon's upper limb. Separation between Mars and the moon's upper edge is given in terms of minutes of arc (the apparent width of the moon on June 29 is 31 arc minutes), and the percentage of the apparent width of the moon. A value of 0.48, for example, is equal to 48% of the moon's width (or fractionally, slightly less than one-half). Examples: from Miami, closest approach between Mars and the moon is at 10:13 p.m. EDT. Separation is 15 arc minutes or 0.48, which is just under one-half of a moon's width from Mars to the upper edge of the moon. From New York, closest approach is at 9:48 p.m. EDT, the separation is listed at 23 arc minutes or 0.74, which means that 74% of the moon's width will separate Mars from the moon's upper edge. Related Stories: — How to see the 'Horse and Rider' in the Big Dipper's handle this summer — Mars: Everything you need to know about the Red Planet — June's Strawberry Moon treats skywatchers to a rare low-riding show (photos) After its rendezvous with the moon, Mars will continue to press on to the east. In the weeks and months that follow, Mars will continue to be a fixture in the evening sky, but will continue to recede from Earth and consequently will get fainter, diminishing to the rank of second magnitude. Passing north of Spica on Sept. 13 and Mercury on Oct. 19, Mars will be getting progressively lower in the sky — more southerly and nearer to the sunset. When it finally fades into the evening twilight glow of early November, it will be on the far side of the sun, some 225 million miles (362 million km) from Earth and just 1/13 as bright as it was in mid-January. It will finally end its run as an evening object when it will be at conjunction with the sun next year, on Jan. 9. Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, Sky and Telescope and other publications.
Hans India
09-06-2025
- Science
- Hans India
NASA captures stunning image of Mars' towering volcano Arsia Mons
NASA Captures Stunning Image of Mars' Towering Volcano Arsia Mons Piercing Through Dawn Clouds In a breathtaking new image, NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft has captured the massive Martian volcano Arsia Mons rising through pre-dawn clouds, offering an Earth-like yet entirely alien view from orbit. Photographed on May 2, 2025, the image shows Arsia Mons breaking through a blanket of water ice clouds, captured in a greenish atmospheric haze. The image was taken while the orbiter was turned 90 degrees midway around Mars — a rare maneuver to capture the planet's horizon, much like how astronauts see Earth from space. A Unique Vantage Point Mars Odyssey, the longest-operating spacecraft in orbit around another planet, used its THEMIS (Thermal Emission Imaging System) to collect this image. THEMIS, primarily designed to study surface temperature, has been used since 2023 to scan Mars' upper atmosphere and horizon. The latest capture showcases a rare and fleeting Martian weather pattern: early morning water ice clouds forming over the massive Tharsis Montes volcanoes. These clouds are most prominent during Mars' aphelion — when the planet is farthest from the Sun — creating a cloudy equatorial band, with Arsia Mons towering above. Colossal and Cloudy: Arsia Mons Standing at 20 kilometers high, Arsia Mons is nearly twice as tall as Mauna Loa in Hawaii, making it one of the tallest volcanoes in the solar system. Its height and shape encourage thick cloud formation each Martian morning as cold air condenses while rising up its slopes. NASA scientists, hoping to catch this exact moment, aimed Odyssey's camera at Arsia Mons — and the result did not disappoint. 'It's not just visually stunning; it's scientifically valuable,' said Jonathon Hill of Arizona State University, operations manager for THEMIS. Cracking the Code of Martian Weather The horizon view helps scientists understand seasonal and atmospheric changes on Mars. Michael D. Smith from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center noted that these images are revealing critical patterns that could impact future mission planning, including spacecraft landings. THEMIS also detects visible and infrared light, helping identify subsurface water ice — a potential resource for future astronauts. It even observes Mars' moons, Phobos and Deimos, for surface composition data. A Mission That Keeps on Giving With support from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Lockheed Martin Space, Odyssey continues to inspire after more than 20 years in orbit. THEMIS, designed by Arizona State University, remains a cornerstone in Martian exploration. Thanks to this new perspective, the Martian sky is offering more secrets — and scientists are ready to uncover them one image at a time.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Early visions of Mars: Meet the 19th-century astronomer who used science fiction to imagine the red planet
Living in today's age of ambitious robotic exploration of Mars, with an eventual human mission to the red planet likely to happen one day, it is hard to imagine a time when Mars was a mysterious and unreachable world. And yet, before the invention of the rocket, astronomers who wanted to explore Mars beyond what they could see through their telescopes had to use their imaginations. As a space historian and author of the book 'For the Love of Mars: A Human History of the Red Planet,' I've worked to understand how people in different times and places imagined Mars. The second half of the 19th century was a particularly interesting time to imagine Mars. This was a period during which the red planet seemed to be ready to give up some of its mystery. Astronomers were learning more about Mars, but they still didn't have enough information to know whether it hosted life, and if so, what kind. With more powerful telescopes and new printing technologies, astronomers began applying the cartographic tools of geographers to create the first detailed maps of the planet's surface, filling it in with continents and seas, and in some cases features that could have been produced by life. Because it was still difficult to see the actual surface features of Mars, these maps varied considerably. During this period, one prominent scientist and popularizer brought together science and imagination to explore the possibilities that life on another world could hold. One imaginative thinker whose attention was drawn to Mars during this period was the Parisian astronomer Camille Flammarion. In 1892, Flammarion published 'The Planet Mars,' which remains to this day a definitive history of Mars observation up through the 19th century. It summarized all the published literature about Mars since the time of Galileo in the 17th century. This work, he reported, required him to review 572 drawings of Mars. Like many of his contemporaries, Flammarion concluded that Mars, an older world that had gone through the same evolutionary stages as Earth, must be a living world. Unlike his contemporaries, he insisted that Mars, while it might be the most Earth-like planet in our solar system, was distinctly its own world. It was the differences that made Mars interesting to Flammarion, not the similarities. Any life found there would be evolutionarily adapted to its particular conditions – an idea that appealed to the author H.G. Wells when he imagined invading Martians in 'The War of the Worlds.' But Flammarion also admitted that it was difficult to pin down these differences, as 'the distance is too great, our atmosphere is too dense, and our instruments are not perfect enough.' None of the maps he reviewed could be taken literally, he lamented, because everyone had seen and drawn Mars differently. Given this uncertainty about what had actually been seen on Mars' surface, Flammarion took an agnostic stance in 'The Planet Mars' as to the specific nature of life on Mars. He did, however, consider that if intelligent life did exist on Mars, it would be more ancient than human life on Earth. Logically, that life would be more perfect — akin to the peaceful, unified and technologically advanced civilization he predicted would come into being on Earth in the coming century. 'We can however hope,' he wrote, 'that since the world of Mars is older than our own, its inhabitants may be wiser and more advanced than we are. Undoubtedly it is the spirit of peace which has animated this neighboring world.' But as Flammarion informed his readers, 'the Known is a tiny island in the midst of the ocean of the Unknown,' a point he often underscored in the more than 70 books he published in his lifetime. It was the 'Unknown' that he found particularly tantalizing. Historians often describe Flammarion more as a popularizer than a serious scientist, but this should not diminish his accomplishments. For Flammarion, science wasn't a method or a body of established knowledge. It was the nascent core of a new philosophy waiting to be born. He took his popular writing very seriously and hoped it could turn people's minds toward the heavens. Without resolving the planet's surface or somehow communicating with its inhabitants, it was premature to speculate about what forms of life might exist on Mars. And yet, Flammarion did speculate — not so much in his scientific work, but in a series of novels he wrote over the course of his career. In these imaginative works, he was able to visit Mars and see its surface for himself. Unlike his contemporary, the science fiction author Jules Verne, who imagined a technologically facilitated journey to the Moon, Flammarion preferred a type of spiritual journey. Based on his belief that human souls after death can travel through space in a way that the living body cannot, Flammarion's novels include dream journeys as well as the accounts of deceased friends or fictional characters. In his novel 'Urania' (1889), Flammarion's soul visits Mars in a dream. Upon arrival, he encounters a deceased friend, George Spero, who has been reincarnated as a winged, luminous, six-limbed being. 'Organisms can no more be earthly on Mars than they could be aerial at the bottom of the sea,' Flammarion writes. Later in the same novel, Spero's soul visits Flammarion on Earth. He reveals that Martian civilization and science have progressed well beyond Earth, not only because Mars is an older world, but because the atmosphere is thinner and more suitable for astronomy. Flammarion imagined that practicing and popularizing astronomy, along with the other sciences, had helped advance Martian society. Flammarion's imagined Martians lived intellectual lives untroubled by war, hunger and other earthly concerns. This was the life Flammarion wanted for his fellow Parisians, who had lived through the devastation of the Franco-Prussian war and suffered starvation and deprivation during the Siege of Paris and its aftermath. Today, Flammarion's Mars is a reminder that imagining a future on Mars is as much about understanding ourselves and our societal aspirations as it is about developing the technologies to take us there. Flammarion's popularization of science was his means of helping his fellow Earth-bound humans understand their place in the universe. They could one day join his imagined Martians, which weren't meant to be taken any more literally than the maps of Mars he analyzed for 'The Planet Mars.' His world was an example of what life could become under the right conditions. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Matthew Shindell, Smithsonian Institution Read more: A decade after the release of 'The Martian' and a decade out from the world it envisions, a planetary scientist checks in on real-life Mars exploration Dear Elon Musk: Your dazzling Mars plan overlooks some big nontechnical hurdles When will the first baby be born in space? Matthew Shindell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Scottish Sun
04-06-2025
- General
- Scottish Sun
Super Earth in ‘Goldilocks zone' discovered with new alien-hunting tool – now it will search for more habitable planets
Located in the Lyra constellation, the Super Earth planet completes an orbit of its nearby star every 207.5 days ET PHONE HOME Super Earth in 'Goldilocks zone' discovered with new alien-hunting tool – now it will search for more habitable planets Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) SCIENTISTS have stumbled across a new Super-Earth that orbits inside its star's habitable zone with a new alien-hunting tool. Searching for Earth-like planets - and Earth-like life - is the ultimate goal for planetary science. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 Located in the Lyra constellation, the Super Earth planet completes an orbit of its nearby star every 207.5 days Credit: Alamy 3 An artist's impression of Kepler-725b, a gas giant planet in the same system And finding planets that lie in the Goldilocks zone of their sun-like stars – where the conditions are 'just right' to possibly host life – is key to that mission. An international team of scientists, led by the Yunnan Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), have used a new technique to find these potentially habitable worlds. It's called the Transit Timing Variation (TTV) technique - which looks for changes in the predicted transit times of an exoplanet. If the time changes, it could indicate the presence of other unseen planets in the system that are gravitationally influencing the transiting planet. The technique is a good way to detect smaller planets that would otherwise be difficult to find By analysing the TTV signals of Kepler-725b, a gas giant planet in the same system, the team were able to find its hidden sister planet Kepler-725c, according to a new study published in Nature Astronomy. Researchers said the technique offers a promising alternative in the hunt for "Earth 2.0." Kepler-725c has 10 times the mass of Earth and is located in the habitable zone of the sun-like star Kepler-725. It receives roughly 1.4 times the solar radiation than Earth does. Best-ever sign of ALIEN life found on distant planet as scientists '99.7% sure of astounding biological activity signal' Located in the Lyra constellation, the Super Earth planet completes an orbit of its nearby star every 207.5 days. During part of this orbit, the planet enters its star's habitable zone - meaning it could host alien life. Little else is known about the planet so far. It is the first time it has been used to discover a Super-Earth, a type of rocky exoplanet that is larger than Earth but too small to be considered a gas giant like Neptune. Astronomers have relied on alternative techniques to find exoplanets for decades. Like the transit method, where astronomers track how the light from a host star dims when a planet passes in front of it. Or through radial velocity (RV) observations, which is when scientists watch the slight wobble of a star as it interacts with the gravitational pull of an orbiting planet. However, both of these techniques have their flaws and make it difficult to detect planets with long orbital periods. The transit approach, for example, requires a planet's orbit to align exactly with our line of sight from Earth. Whereas the RV method requires extremely high-precision measurements, which makes it harder to find smaller planets. 3 An artist's impression of the Kepler-725 system - the small planet in the lower right is the newly discovered Super-Earth in the habitable zone Credit: Gu Shenghong All you need to know about planets in our solar system Our solar system is made up of nine planets with Earth the third closest to the Sun. But each planet has its own quirks, so find out more about them all... How old is Earth? Plus other facts on our planet How many moons does Mercury have? What colour is Venus? How far away is Mars to Earth? And other facts on the red planet How big is Jupiter? How many moons does Saturn have? Does Uranus have rings? How many moons does Neptune have? How big is Pluto? How hot is the Sun?
