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POPSTwo asteroid belts found in solar system’s young “twin” Using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, the team of astronomers found an identical asteroid belt orbiting Epsilon Eridani at a similar distance. They also found a second asteroid belt about seven times further off, about the equivalent of where Uranus lies in our solar system. The second asteroid belt is believed to contain about as much mass as our Moon.
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POPSNearby Solar System Looks Like Our Own at Time Life Formed Right now, Epsilon Eridani is surrounded by three asteroid rings that scientists believe are held in formation by large planets, the first of which is theorized to sit about half the distance from Mars to Jupiter. In the new paper, two other large planets, slightly farther from their star than Uranus and Neptune are from the sun, are proposed to explain the shape of the outer belts. It will take more sensitive instruments — perhaps like the next-generation of planet-hunting telescopes — to determine whether any would-be Earths lurk inside the habitable zone near the star.
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POPSFirst ring found around a moon They haven't actually seen the ring, but when you consider the thickness of the rings around the gas planets it's not hard to understand why. They know that the electrons in the electrical field around Saturn are being blocked by something before they reach Rhea. They are hoping that this will give them more insight into the way planets are formed, but it seems there are wheels within wheels. While the rings around the gas planets, particularly Saturn are fairly well known. Now they have a ring around a moon. I don't know if people have considered the fact that the Sun has it's own ring. Known as the Asteroid Belt. Some questions may be - Was it a planet ? Will it become one ? Or will it always be a ring ?
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POPSDust samples prompt rethink about comets The rock dust closely resembles material from bodies called chondritic meteorites from asteroids in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, they reported in the journal Science. Asteroids are fragments of ancient space rubble, made of rock and metal, that commonly orbit the sun in that belt. Wild 2 is named for Swiss astronomer Paul Wild (pronounced Vilt), who found it in 1978. Its diameter is 3 miles and it orbits the sun every 6-1/2 years. Stardust, launched in 1999, intercepted Wild 2 in 2004 in the vicinity of the asteroid belt, collecting dust particles from it. The spacecraft returned to Earth in January 2006 with a cargo of the tiny particles for scientists to study
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POPSDid our Solar System once have another planet? The fiery demise of a fifth rocky planet in our Solar System might have led to a flurry of asteroid impacts that pockmarked the Moon and Earth billions of years ago. The Late Heavy Bombardment (LHB) is a relatively brief period, about 3.9 billion years ago, when wayward space projectiles heavily pelted the Moon and inner planets. Craters on the Moon better match asteroids from the Asteroid Belt, located beyond the orbit of Mars.
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POPSComet 17P/Holmes Erupts in the Sky "Hi List, In the ancient constellation of Perseus (Rising in the NE just after Sunset and highest in the sky around 2-4 am), a fading comet has suddenly exploded back into life. This comet, 17P Holmes, is suddenly visible to the naked eye, although it had already swung by its perihelion months ago and was now about 2.5 AU from the Sun. (and a little bit more than the Sun-Mars distance from Earth). Initially mistaken for a companion to the Andromeda Galaxy, Comet Holmes was discovered in 1892, and has had a lesser outburst before... Not bad for a Jupiter family (main belt asteroid like) comet estimated at less than 3.5 Km in diameter. What is happing aboard Comet Holmes? Why is it suddenly 100,000 times brighter than it was before? Don't touch that dial and stay tuned for some exciting scenes next week :-) Happy Hunting, Doug" meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com
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POPSEarth like planet forming on our doorstep We've got a big doorstep. I suppose the closer the stars the easier the planets are to to trace, even those our size. Almost seems funny that not long ago we could not be sure we'd find planets at all.
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POPSGroup renames Asteriod for George Takei Ensign Sulu, from Star Trek.( I'm sure he was an admiral in the movies.) Asteroids are generally cataloged, and given a catalog number. Some Asteroids are then renamed after famous, or notable people. They mention websites that offer naming rights to stars. These names are not generally used by astronomers, while the Asteroid names given by the International, Astronomical Union are.
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POPSExploring the origins of Solar System In an eight-year mission, Dawn is scheduled to enter orbit around Vesta in October 2011, proceed to Ceres in May 2012 and then begin orbiting Ceres in February 2015 -- travelling a total distance of 5.1 billion kilometers.
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POPSAsteroids Get A Kick Out Of Sunlight An artist's concept of a massive asteroid belt in orbit around a star the same age and size as our Sun. Research indicates that sunlight speeds up an asteroid's spin and changes the direction of its axis.
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POPS The Seductive Logic of Exterminationism The second tendency stemming from dwelling so much on Hitler's exterminationist logic is to begin to absorb it and to start thinking like Hitler himself, to say to oneself: Well, while it wouldn't do to come out and quite say it publicly, it's simple logic that if we can't democratize the Muslims (which looks increasingly implausible), we'd better do unto them before they do unto us: exterminate them. That way of thought leads toward a war of nuclear genocide that would be as unnecessary as it is criminal.
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