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Hot Topic
Deep Space
Cosmic Evolution
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| Detecting Life-Friendly Moons |
| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
10/26/09 |
| The search for life-friendly real estate around distant stars doesn't have to be limited to planets. New research shows that habitable exomoons can be detected with a new method using current technology. |
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| Building Planet Earth |
| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
10/22/09 |
| A new study shows how rocky planets are formed from the manic swirl of gas and dust that surround a young star, and determines what chemical building blocks are used to construct the planets. Understanding the dynamics and chemistry that create planetary systems can help astronomers in their search for Earth-like planets in the galaxy. |
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| Our Smashing Solar System |
| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
07/30/09 |
| Like messages in a bottle, grains inside meteorites carry clues to the history of our solar system. Some of these tiny crystals are older than the solar system itself. A new study has determined the age of a set of grains from one meteorite. The results seem to indicate a galactic disturbance may have triggered the formation of our solar system. |
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| Living with a Red Dwarf |
| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
04/09/09 |
| Not astrobiologists' first choice, red dwarf stars have now gained acceptance as potential hosts for habitable planets. They may not be great to live by in the first couple billion years, but they eventually settle down into relatively pleasant stars. |
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| Amino Acid Ingredients Found in Distant Galaxy |
| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
02/18/08 |
| In the ultra-bright galaxy Arp 220, radio astronomers have for the first time detected all the ingredients of an amino acid beyond the Milky Way. The study confirms that familiar carbon chemistry exists in the distant universe, and could help constrain the search for life. |
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| The Violent Origin of the Solar System |
| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
06/21/07 |
| We know that our solar system has at least one planet with life – Earth. Perhaps solar systems that formed in ways similar to our own also will have the potential for life. But how normal was the formation of our solar system? In Astrobiology Magazine, European Edition, Thierry Montmerle suggests our solar system had an unusually violent origin. |
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| Checking Out the Stellar Neighborhood |
| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
01/15/07 |
| A recent study found 20 new star systems in the sun’s local neighborhood. Most of the new discoveries are red dwarfs, much smaller and dimmer than the sun. Yet scientists are growing more confident that these stars could host habitable planets. |
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| SETI Sets its Sights on M Dwarfs |
| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
11/17/05 |
| More than half the stars in our galaxy are small, dim M dwarfs. Until recently, scientists believed these stars put out too little light to support life on any planets that orbited them. But at a recent workshop held at the SETI Institute targets in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. |
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| Building Life from Star-Stuff |
| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
09/05/05 |
| If a planet or moon has only a slight rotational tilt, a tall mountain or crater rim can be forever bathed in sunlight. In 1994, NASA's Clementine mission found candidates for such "peaks of eternal light" on the moon's north and south poles. |
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| Early Black Holes Grew Up Quickly |
| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
06/28/05 |
| Which came first, galaxies or the supermassive black holes at their centre? Most cosmologists now think the two are inextricably linked, each depending on the other. |
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