Three new possibly habitable ‘super-Earth’ planets discovered

Artist conceptions of the habitable zone planets found so far by Kepler, compared to Earth on the far right. From left to right: Kepler-22b, Kepler-69c, Kepler-62e, Kepler-62f and Earth. Credit: NASA Ames / JPL-Caltech
Artist conceptions of the habitable zone planets found so far by Kepler, compared to Earth on the far right. From left to right: Kepler-22b, Kepler-69c, Kepler-62e, Kepler-62f and Earth.
Credit: NASA Ames / JPL-Caltech

There is some more exciting news from the Kepler space telescope mission – as announced in a NASA press briefing this morning, three more planets have been detected orbiting in their stars’ habitable zones. Larger planets have been found already in this zone around various stars, but what makes this newest discovery so compelling is that these new planets are the smallest found so far in this zone, so-called “super-Earths.” Two of them may even be covered by oceans!

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Old Soviet Mars 3 lander discovered?

Set of images showing possible hardware from the Mars 3 landing in 1971. Click for larger version. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona
Set of images showing possible hardware from the Mars 3 landing in 1971. Click for larger version. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona

A “missing” Mars lander and its associated hardware from the 1970s may have finally been discovered in images taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The Soviet Mars 3 lander was the first successful landing on Mars by any spacecraft, but after transmitting for only 14.5 seconds after touchdown on December 2, 1971, it went silent and was never heard from again. Its exact landing site was unknown, but now may have finally been located after all these years.

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The winds still blow in thin but active Martian atmosphere

Mars’ atmosphere is much thinner now than it once was, but it still has clouds, as seen in this NASA photo, as well as fog, wind, dust storms, and snow. Credit: NASA / JPL
Mars’ atmosphere is much thinner now than it once was, but it still has clouds, as seen in this NASA photo, as well as fog, wind, dust storms and snow. Credit: NASA / JPL

For any future astronauts who land on Mars, there is one piece of advice that shouldn’t even need to be said: keep your helmet on! Mars has an atmosphere, like Earth, but it is much thinner than ours (and mostly carbon dioxide), and so is unbreathable by humans. However, evidence has continued to grow that Mars’ atmosphere was once a lot thicker than it is now, early on in the planet’s history. Recent findings from the Curiosity rover have added to that evidence, as well as showing not only how Mars has lost most of the atmosphere that it once had, but also that the atmosphere which remains is still very active.

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Book review – Your Ticket to the Universe: A Guide to Exploring the Cosmos

Your Ticket to the Universe: A Guide to Exploring the Cosmos Credit: Smithsonian Books / Bill Anton / Service Station
Your Ticket to the Universe: A Guide to Exploring the Cosmos
Credit: Smithsonian Books / Bill Anton / Service Station

There are a lot of books out there about space and astronomy, often focusing on a particular area of research or perhaps sometimes a bit heavy on the technical side. What if you are looking for a book that is appealing to the general public, both visually and information-wise? Something ideal for newcomers to the subject as well as those who already have a good working knowledge about space exploration?

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