When you hear the phrase “spiral arms” you probably think of galaxies. Many galaxies have bright arcs of stars spiraling away from their center, including our own Milky Way. But not all galaxies have spiral arms, and galaxies aren’t the only celestial objects with spiral arms. About a third of protoplanetary disks around young stars … Read more
Nothing lasts forever, not even worlds. For our species to continue to exist in the long term, we may have to spread our eggs across a few different planetary baskets, like the brave explorers of SYF extension‘S The Ark, now streaming on Peacock. They’re headed for Proxima centauri, a nearby red dwarf star about 4.2 … Read more
A giant planet twice the mass of Jupiter has been detected after previous searches failed to find it. The planet was expected to unfurl swirling arms within the protoplanetary disk around a very young star, but was missed because its light is at unexpectedly long wavelengths. Just as the discovery of the planets solves the … Read more
The violent merger between two stars that may have formed the helium-burning giant star Baekdu is depicted. The merger debris forms a disk from which the planet Halla formed, allowing the planets an unlikely survival around the star. Credit: WM Keck Observatory/Adam Makarenko 8 Ursae Minoris b, a giant planet, surprisingly survives despite the expansion … Read more
