Planets

Artistic concept of the exoplanet GJ 1132b and its star (Image courtesy MPIA)

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An article published in “The Astronomical Journal” describes a research about the exoplanet GJ 1132b. A team led by Dr. John Southworth of Keele University and by Italian INAF associate Luigi Mancini used the 2.2-meter ESO/MPG telescope in Chile to directly study this super-Earth during its transit in front of its star and detect its atmosphere. This is the first direct evidence of the existence of an atmosphere for a planet similar in size to Earth, although it could look more like Venus.

The HD 169142 system (Image ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/ Fedele et al.)

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An article published in the journal “Astronomy & Astrophysics” describes the discovery of traces of two planets that are forming in the young system HD 169142. A team of researchers led by Davide Fedele of the Institute of Astrophysics in Florence, Italy, used the ALMA radio telescope to study the of gas and dust disk surrounding the young star identifying gap rings compatible with the formation of planets similar to Jupiter.

Artist's concept comparing Mars as it is today and as it was 4 billion years ago (Image NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center)

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An article published in the journal “Science” describes a research on the atmosphere of the planet Mars that indicates the Sun’s wind and radiation as the principal culprits of the fact that today that atmosphere is so thin. A team led by Bruce Jakosky, principal investigator of NASA’s MAVEN space probe’s mission, examined the measurements of the existing gases estimating for example that 65% of argon present origininally got lost in space. This research confirms the one published in November 2015.

Arsia Mons (Image NASA/JPL/USGS)

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An article published in the journal “Earth and Planetary Science Letters” describes a research about Arsia Mons, a volcano on the planet Mars. A team led by Jacob Richardson of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center examined high-resolution images taken by the MRO (Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter) space probe to determine that Arsia Mons was at its peak of activity about 150 million years ago and that its last activity probably ended about 50 million years ago.

The great bright spot at the center of Occator crater (Image NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA/PSI/LPI)

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An article published in the journal “Astronomical Journal” describes a study that provides a dating to the large bright spot in Occator crater on the dwarf planet Ceres. A team of researchers led by Andreas Nathues of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Göttingen, Germany, used data collected by NASA’s Dawn space probe to analyze the interior of Occator concluding that the bright spot is 4 million years old, 30 million less of the crater.