A Scientific Research Vault
In an effort to explore the mysterious GJ 367 planetary system, an international team of astronomers embarked on a dynamic quest. Armed with the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS), they set out to unravel the secrets hidden in the vastness of space.
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Rovers on Mars are constantly monitored and maneuvered by humans on Earth. However, robots on missions to Saturn or Jupiter’s moons can’t get timely commands from Earth. What if these machines could make decisions on the fly? Instead of waiting for an “order”, how about these bots making autonomous choice? Thinking on these lines of thought, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign came up with a cool way for these robots to decide where and how to collect terrain samples on their own.
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The surface area of Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, is slightly smaller than Earth’s Moon. Yet it has garnered a lot of attention from scientists as a potential site for extra-terrestrial life. Here are some of the reasons, why it is considered as potential for hosting life: Surface and Ice Shell: The surface of Jovian moon is covered by a layer of ice that is believed to be several kilometers thick. When it comes to the entire solar system, its icy crust is one of the smoothest. This implies that…
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Gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of spacetime caused by the acceleration of massive objects. The main source of detecting gravitational waves are the mergers of binary systems consisting of black holes and neutron stars. Till now, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and the Virgo detector have successfully identified gravitational waves.
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Researchers at Japan have discovered some new information about why all amino acids found on Earth are in a specific shape called “left-handed” or “L-form.” The team studied amino acids found in a meteorite called the Murchison meteorite. They also used computer simulations based on physics to understand how this shape came about.
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Juno is the famous space probe sent by NASA to study Jupiter. It was launched in 2011 and reached the gas giant planet in 2016. Instead of orbiting around the equator like previous missions, Juno entered a path that takes it over Jupiter’s poles. After its arrival, the space probe has been gyrating the planet in a specific orbit. With the help of special instruments on board, Juno is constantly collecting information from Jupiter’s environment. The main aim of the expedition, is to gather accurate data about the planet’s gravity…
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Radiation belts are zones of charged particles, primarily electrons and protons, trapped by a planet’s magnetic field. They are typically found around planets with a significant magnetic field, such as Earth or Jupiter. These belts produce various radiations, including radio emissions, which can be detected and studied by radio telescopes.
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When a star runs out of fuel, it eventually reaches the end of its life cycle and begin to expand. It swells to hundred or even a thousand times its original size. The process is called as a “red giant” phase. The progression enables the star’s outer layers to become less dense. Consequently, the star starts to swell outwards. In some cases, the star may expand so much that it engulfs any nearby planets.
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Astronomers are always looking for exoplanets since it opens the door for better understanding of the formation and evolution of planetary systems beyond our own. With this aim in mind, NASA launched the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in 2018. Primary parameter of this was to monitor the brightness of nearby stars. Till now, TESS has surveyed nearly 200,000 of the brightest stars near the sun. And so far, it has identified about 6,400 candidate exoplanets. To date, 330 of these candidates have been confirmed as exoplanets through follow-up observations…
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Magnetic field is an important characteristic of a planet. And when it comes to Earth, the field is generated by the motion of molten iron in its core. It not only protects the atmosphere on Earth from cosmic radiations but it also deflects the charged particles spewed off by the sun. In absence of magnetic field, planet’s atmosphere would erode. Thus, making it less habitable.
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According to Einstein’s theory of general relativity, gravity arises from the curvature of spacetime, caused by the presence of massive objects. This curvature, also, impacts the motion of all nearby objects thus, causing them to move in curved paths. General relativity however breaks down under extreme conditions such as those found in black holes and the early universe. These conditions comprise of high energies and densities, which exponentially influences the effects of quantum mechanics. And it has been observed that the laws of general relativity no longer provide a complete…
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Short-term exposure to altered gravity, such as the brief periods of weightlessness experienced during parabolic flights, is generally not considered to be harmful to human health. However, it’s important to note that even short periods of altered gravity can slightly thought not exponentially affect the body in various ways. For example, during periods of weightlessness, fluids tend to shift from the lower body to the upper body, which can cause a decrease in blood volume and an increase in pressure in the head and upper body. This can result in…
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Astronomers have discovered a potential key step in the chemical process that occurs in “stellar nurseries,” which are clouds of gas and dust in space that eventually form young stars and planets.
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In an international collaboration between astronomers, two planets orbiting a red-dwarf star have been identified. The planets, GJ 1002 b and c, are 16 light-years away and about the size of Earth. Both lie within the star’s habitable zone. Which means, the orbital distance is enough to allow liquid water to form on the surface provided it has the right kind of atmosphere.
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Cumulative evidence, so far has suggested that Mars once had oceans but then lost its atmosphere and eventually died out. Unlike Earth, where shifting tectonic plates make way for dynamic interior, Mars never surfaced such processes. Hence, the astronomers concluded that nothing much happened on the red planet, at least, in the last 3 to 4 billion years. Recent observations by the scientists at the University of Arizona, however has challenged the current views of Martian geodynamic evolution. As per them, the red planet, that seems to be dead, has an…
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