Category: cosmology

To search for alien life, astronomers will look for clues in the atmospheres of distant planets – and the James Webb Space Telescope just proved it’s possible to do so

Life on Earth has dramatically changed the chemistry of the planet. Astronomers will measure light that bounces off distant planets to look for similar clues that they host life.

Source: To search for alien life, astronomers will look for clues in the atmospheres of distant planets – and the James Webb Space Telescope just proved it’s possible to do so

Newly discovered comet is likely interstellar visitor 

A newly discovered comet has excited the astronomical community this week because it appears to have originated from outside the solar system. The official confirmation that comet C/2019 Q4 is an interstellar comet has not yet been made, but if it is interstellar, it would be only the second such object detected.

Source: Newly discovered comet is likely interstellar visitor — ScienceDaily

At The Conversation: Why DO astronomers believe dark matter exists? 

Is dark matter the Higgs boson, hard to find but eventually found, or the ether, once believed to pervade the universe? If twenty years pass with no dark matter, unfortunately, the needle will tilt a bit more toward the ether.

Source: At The Conversation: Why DO astronomers believe dark matter exists? | Uncommon Descent

Sean Carroll: A multiverse is the price we pay for unifying physics 

Carroll: “The price we pay for such a powerful and simple unification of quantum dynamics is a large number of separate worlds.” Right. And the price you pay for suicide is that nothing you do in this world afterward matters.

Source: Sean Carroll: A multiverse is the price we pay for unifying physics | Uncommon Descent

Combination of space-based and ground-based telescopes reveals more than 100 exoplanets — ScienceDaily

Astronomers using a combination of ground and space based telescopes have reported more than 100 extrasolar planets (exoplanets) in only three months. These planets are quite diverse and expected to play a large role in developing the research field of exoplanets and life in the Universe.

Source: Combination of space-based and ground-based telescopes reveals more than 100 exoplanets — ScienceDaily