#superpuff-planets
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spacenutspod · 1 month ago
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Astronomy Daily - The Podcast: S03E231 Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your Daily source for the latest in space and Astronomy news. I'm your host, Anna, and today we have an intriguing lineup of stories, from SpaceX's strategic moves to the enigmatic world of dark comets and volcanic moons. Highlights: - SpaceX Heads to Texas: Discover the implications of SpaceX's headquarters relocation to Starbase, Texas, following the footsteps of other Musk ventures and marking a significant shift in the company's operations. - Dark Comets Unveiled: Dive into the discovery of seven new dark comets, mysterious celestial bodies lacking the typical comet tail yet exhibiting unusual non-gravitational acceleration. - Geminid Meteor Shower: Get ready for a dazzling display from the Geminid meteor shower, originating from asteroid Phaethon, promising bright meteors despite the full Moon's presence. - Kepler 51's Fourth World: Explore the discovery of a fourth planet in the Kepler 51 system, a new addition to the superpuff planets, challenging our understanding of planetary formation. - Sun's Superflare Potential: Learn about new research suggesting our sun might produce massive superflares more frequently than previously thought, with potential impacts on Earth's technology. - Jupiter's Volcanic Moon Io: Uncover the mystery of IO's volcanic activity, as NASA's Juno mission reveals each volcano is powered by its own magma chamber, reshaping our understanding of this fiery moon. For more cosmic updates, visit our website at astronomydaily.io. Sign up for our free Daily newsletter to stay informed on all things space. Join our community on social media by searching for #AstroDailyPod on Facebook, X, YouTubeMusic, Tumblr, and TikTok. Share your thoughts and connect with fellow space enthusiasts. Thank you for tuning in. This is Anna signing off. Until next time, keep looking up and stay curious about the wonders of our universe. ✍️ Episode References SpaceX https://www.spacex.com Elon Musk https://twitter.com/elonmusk Starbase Texas https://www.spacex.com/starbase Tesla https://www.tesla.com NASA's James Webb Space Telescope https://www.jwst.nasa.gov NASA's Hubble Space Telescope https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/main/index.html NASA's Juno Mission https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/juno/main/index.html University of Oulu https://www.oulu.fi/en Phaethon (asteroid) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3200_Phaethon Kepler 51 system https://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/overview/Kepler-51
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sciencenewsforstudents · 5 years ago
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Some puzzling planets called superpuffs could be Saturns in disguise.
These exoplanets appear very large given their masses, suggesting that they have densities like cotton candy. Astronomers have struggled to explain how these planets could have turned out so fluffy (SN: 11/30/15).
“People had been thinking of complicated ways to explain these mysterious planets,” such as dust storms leaving a planet, says theoretical astrophysicist Anthony Piro of the Carnegie Observatories in Pasadena, Calif.
Now, Piro and exoplanet scientist Shreyas Vissapragada of Caltech propose a simpler explanation. Instead of being outsized for their weight class, some superpuffs could sport wide rings that make the planets appear bigger than they really are, the researchers suggest February 28 in the Astronomical Journal.
“This seemed like such a natural, kind of cute explanation,” Piro says. “We know of things like Saturn in our own solar system. Why can’t something like that exist in other solar systems as well?”
The duo considered 10 known superpuffs observed with the Kepler space telescope, and ran computer simulations to see if the planets’ girths could be due to rings.
The team found that because all of the superpuffs sit fairly close to their stars, their rings would need to be made of rock, unlike Saturn’s icy rings (SN: 8/23/17), to avoid melting away. And, as a result, the proposed rocky rings can’t extend too far from a planet, or the rocks’ gravity would pull them together into moons.
That means that the three superpuffs orbiting the star Kepler 51 can’t be explained by rings — the planets appear big enough that any rocky rings they might have would turn into moons, the team found. But the other seven worlds might have rings and are worth checking, Piro says.
Following up on these planets might need to wait for NASA’s sharp-eyed James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled to launch in 2021 (SN: 4/19/16).
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wumblr · 5 years ago
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an early stage of planetary development has been identfied, a class of ultra low density “superpuff” planets, of which none exist in our system
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(artists’ illustration)
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spacejournal · 2 years ago
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jaimebonettizeller · 5 years ago
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These ‘super puff’ planets have the same density as cotton candy 🪐🪐🪐 https://buff.ly/380SZqh⠀ ⠀ #JaimeBonettiZeller #SuperPuff #SuperPuffPlanets #CottonCandy #Space https://ift.tt/2NuKFY3
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releasesoon · 5 years ago
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Strange 'Super-Puff' Planets Floating in Space Might Not Be What We Thought
Strange ‘Super-Puff’ Planets Floating in Space Might Not Be What We Thought
As we find more and more exoplanets in the Milky Way – numbering in the thousands now – astronomers are discovering some strange objects that don’t exist in the Solar System. One such phenomenon are the strangely fluffy “super-puff” planets – the size of gas giants, but way, way less massive.
  Exactly how these planets can exist has been a puzzle to astronomers. In extreme cases, a…
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galaxymeraki · 5 years ago
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via Space – Knowledge Meraki
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