Evan Gough

1 day ago | universetoday.com | Evan Gough

The discovery of a Saturn-sized gas giant orbiting a small red dwarf is urging astronomers to reconsider their theories of planet formation. Typically, astronomers find larger planets around larger stars, but this discovery breaks that connection. The finding puts pressure on the core-accretion theory, the leading explanation for planet formation. Core accretion theory is the most widely accepted explanation for planetary formation.

1 day ago | universetoday.com | Evan Gough

Astronomers have found another super-Earth. It's about 10 times more massive than Earth, and orbits in the habitable zone of a Sun-like star 2475 light-years away. These massive Earth-like planets hold key information about how planets form and evolve. The planet is named Kepler-725c, and despite being 10 times more massive than Earth, it's still considered a low-mass exoplanet.

3 days ago | universetoday.com | Evan Gough

The idea that the Milky Way (MW) and Andromeda (M31) will collide emerged after decades of observations by a host of astronomers. The Hubble played a decisive role in the determination during the early 2000s. It was a triumph of precision astronomy and space telescopes. Now, the Hubble has played an equally important role in cancelling the collision. A galaxy collision is a colossal event. The MW and M31 contain as many as 1.5 trillion stars combined.

3 days ago | phys.org | Evan Gough |Lisa Lock |Robert Egan

The challenge in the search for habitable worlds is clear. We need to be able to identify habitable worlds and distinguish between biotic and abiotic processes. Ideally, scientists would do this on entire populations of exoplanets rather than on a case-by-case basis. Exoplanets' natural thermostats might provide a way of doing this.

4 days ago | universetoday.com | Evan Gough

The challenge in the search for habitable worlds is clear. We need to be able to identify habitable worlds and distinguish between biotic and abiotic processes. Ideally, scientists would do this on entire populations of exoplanets rather than on a case-by-case basis. Exoplanets' natural thermostats might provide a way of doing this.