Nov 27, 2023 06:49 PM
Hydrogen discovered in Apollo-era moon rocks could change the future of lunar exploration
https://www.livescience.com/space/the-mo...xploration
INTRO: A fresh analysis of moon rocks brought home during the Apollo missions has, for the first time, revealed the presence of hydrogen. This finding suggests future astronauts could someday use water available right on the moon for life support and rocket fuel... (MORE - details)
Where are all the double planets?
https://www.universetoday.com/164456/whe...e-planets/
INTRO: A recent study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society examines formation mechanisms for how binary planets—two large planetary bodies orbiting each other—can be produced from a type of tidal heating known as tidal dissipation, or the energy that is shared between two planetary bodies as the orbit close to each other, which the Earth and our Moon experiences. This study comes as the hunt for exomoons and other satellites orbiting exoplanets continues to expand and holds the potential to help astronomers better understand the formation and evolution of exoplanets and their systems. So, why is studying binary planets specifically important?
“Binary planets are not present in our Solar System, at least nominally, given the similarities with the Pluto-Charon system which, however, is a dwarf planetary analog,” Dr. Cecilia Lazzoni, who is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Exeter and lead author of the study, tells Universe Today. “Proving new formation mechanisms that enable the formation of such pairs would justify the existence of a complete new type of worlds. For example, if a Jupiter-like planet could host an Earth-like satellite, that satellite could be in principle habitable though far from its star, using the energy coming from the giant planet.” (MORE - details)
https://www.livescience.com/space/the-mo...xploration
INTRO: A fresh analysis of moon rocks brought home during the Apollo missions has, for the first time, revealed the presence of hydrogen. This finding suggests future astronauts could someday use water available right on the moon for life support and rocket fuel... (MORE - details)
Where are all the double planets?
https://www.universetoday.com/164456/whe...e-planets/
INTRO: A recent study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society examines formation mechanisms for how binary planets—two large planetary bodies orbiting each other—can be produced from a type of tidal heating known as tidal dissipation, or the energy that is shared between two planetary bodies as the orbit close to each other, which the Earth and our Moon experiences. This study comes as the hunt for exomoons and other satellites orbiting exoplanets continues to expand and holds the potential to help astronomers better understand the formation and evolution of exoplanets and their systems. So, why is studying binary planets specifically important?
“Binary planets are not present in our Solar System, at least nominally, given the similarities with the Pluto-Charon system which, however, is a dwarf planetary analog,” Dr. Cecilia Lazzoni, who is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Exeter and lead author of the study, tells Universe Today. “Proving new formation mechanisms that enable the formation of such pairs would justify the existence of a complete new type of worlds. For example, if a Jupiter-like planet could host an Earth-like satellite, that satellite could be in principle habitable though far from its star, using the energy coming from the giant planet.” (MORE - details)