Moons, Solar Origins, and a Crash that Cracked the World (Maybe)

Scientists seeking niches for life in the universe have a new tool, we've finding stars that shared our sun's origin, and have more clues about Earth's early years....

A Hypothetical Habitable Moon


(From Lucianomendez, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.
("Artist's impression of a hypothetical habitable moon of Upsilon Andromedae d.")

That's a cool picture, but we don't know if Upsilon Andromedae d has moons: let alone one with an atmosphere, ocean, and clouds. Using a new exomoon detecting technique, we may soon know how closely the artist's impression matches reality....

...A few years ago I ran into an intriguing bit of informed speculation: Earth may be about as small as a planet can be, and still support life: and that's another topic.

Exoplanets: Hot Jupiters, Super-Earths, and More

Scientists have cataloged 1786 planets orbiting other stars. These exoplanets are in 1106 planetary systems, including 460 multiple planetary systems. That was last Saturday. The tally may have gone up since then.

From what we've found in our neighborhood, scientists estimate that there are between 160,000,000,000 and 400,000,000,000 planets in this galaxy.

 More at A Catholic Citizen in America

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