Environmental Graffiti

Earth’s Cousins Orbiting a Distant Star

The CoRoT space mission has recently confirmed two Super Earth Planets. Much smaller than the usual exoplanets which are gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn, these planets likely have rocky surfaces with large bodies of water. Environmental Graffiti gives the lowdown on these incredible new cosmic discoveries. Could life exist elsewhere in the galaxy?

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Massive Exo-Planet 63 Light-Years Away Photographed

Beta Pictoris is a fascinating star not far from our sun. It has two discs within which planetesimals collide and planets form. Its largest planet, is hot, young and the first close orbit planet to be photographed. First images of Beta Pictoris's disc were obtained in 1984. Such stellar discs are 'young' by astronomical standards and inside the disc of Beta Pictoris is a clear zone about the diameter of our solar system.

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The Densest Planet

Space telescopes have catalogued a universe of previously unknown wonders and mysteries. The list still grows monthly and certainly far away planets orbiting other stars are hypnotically fascinating. Will any of these prove up as 'Earth-like' with an environment that could support DNA, cellular tissue, life-as-we-know-it?

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Are Jupiter and Saturn Brown Dwarfs, Not Planets?

COROT spacecraft approaching a star field that contains brown dwarfs Image by D Ducros/CNES Our early science classes taught us the difference between stars and planets, the description and properties of each were clear. Now astronomers have found objects in the Milky Way that are neither planets nor stars. [...]

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