An Earth-like planet found orbiting a nearby star is rich in water – a major step forward in the search for worlds like our own, U.S. scientists say.

Thursday, 17 December 2009
The so-called “super-Earth” is about 42 light years away. It’s in another solar system. This new planet’s radius is nearly 2.7 times the Earth’s, according to the researchers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) in Cambridge.

This newly discovered planet, called GJ 1214b, represents a “major step forward” in the search for worlds similar to our own, the University of California’s Geoffrey Marcy said in a commentary. His and another paper were published yesterday in the British journal Nature. [...]

Source: Cosmos Online – click here for full article

 

 

The Geminid meteor shower has been intensifying in recent years, and researchers say 2009 could be the best year yet. This year’s display peaks on Dec. 13th and 14th.

Dec. 8, 2009: Make hot cocoa. Bundle up. Tell your friends. The best meteor shower of 2009 is about to fall over North America on a long, cold December night.

“It’s the Geminid meteor shower,” says Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office. “and it will peak on Dec. 13th and 14th under ideal viewing conditions.”

A new Moon will keep skies dark for a display that Cooke and others say could top 140 meteors per hour. According to the International Meteor Organization, maximum activity should occur around 12:10 a.m. EST (0510 UT) on Dec. 14th. The peak is broad, however, and the night sky will be rich with Geminids for many hours and perhaps even days around the maximum. [...]

Source: Nasa Science – click here for full article

 

 

While stuck in a sandtrap, Mars rover Spirit has made a discovery one researcher calls "supremely interesting."

December 2, 2009: Homer’s Iliad tells the story of Troy, a city besieged by the Greeks in the Trojan War. Today, a lone robot sits besieged in the sands of Troy while engineers and scientists plot its escape.

Left: Spirit surveys its own predicament. The bright soil pictured left is loose, fluffy material churned by the rover’s left-front wheel as Spirit, driving backwards, broke through a darker, crusty surface. At right is the least-embedded of the rover’s six wheels.

Welcome to “Troy” – Mars style. NASA’s robotic rover Spirit is bogged down on the Red Planet in a place the rover team named after the ancient city.

So why aren’t scientists lamenting? [...]

Source: Nasa Science – click here for full article