A version of this story appeared in CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. To access your inbox, register for free here.
CNN
—
There is More than 5000 known worlds outside our solar system.
Since the 1990s, astronomers have used ground-based and space-based telescopes to search for signs of planets beyond their tiny corner of the universe.
Exoplanets are very difficult to image directly because they are so far from Earth.
But scientists look for wobbles in stars, as orbiting planets use their gravitational pull, or as planets pass in front of their star hosts and fall into starlight.
There are likely hundreds of billions more exoplanets waiting to be discovered.
Part of the excitement surrounding the James Webb Space Telescope is its capability Peek into the atmospheres of potentially habitable planets and discover new worlds. This week, the space observatory definitely gave up.
The Webb telescope confirmed the existence of an exoplanet for the first time since the launch of the space observatory in December 2021.
The world, known as LHS 475 b, is about the same size as Earth and lies 41 light-years away in the constellation Octanes.
Scientists cannot yet determine whether the planet has an atmosphere, however The sensitive capabilities of the telescope were concentrated in a number of molecules. Webb will take another crack at observing the planet based on this data this summer.
The exoplanet was just one of the cosmic discoveries Webb announced this week at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle. Plus, NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, mission A second Earth-sized exoplanet in an interesting planetary system 100 light years away – and the world might just have the potential to live on.
A year after the powerful eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano, scientists are still learning the more surprising consequences of the event.
The explosion produced more than 25,500 lightning strikes in just five minutes, according to a new report. The event also produced nearly 400,000 lightning strikes in six hours, accounting for half of all lightning strikes worldwide during the eruption’s peak.
But even more surprising was the eruption in January 2022 Just one factor in an extreme year for lightning all over the world.
Blooming flowers are ephemeral, but an approximately 40-million-year-old specimen remains encased in amber and frozen in time.
Researchers have taken another look at the extraordinary amber fossil first documented in 1872. the largest known flower fossilized in amber 1.1 inches (28 millimeters) wide.
Scientists were able to extract part of the flower’s pollen and discovered that it was related to a group of modern plants.
Meanwhile, archaeologists discovered eight prehistoric ostrich eggs next to an ancient fire pit in Israel.
Russian Space Agency Roscosmos will send an uncrewed replacement spacecraft to the International Space Station as a return vehicle for three crew members after the Soyuz capsule was damaged in December.
Cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio were launched to the space station in September.
The commission determined that the pipeline of the Soyuz radiator was damaged caused by micrometeoroid impactAccording to Roscosmos, it created a hole with a diameter of less than 1 millimeter.
The crew members are in good health, but their return to Earth – unspecified – will be delayed by at least several months.
In the meantime, Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket attempted to launch from the UKand California-based startup ABL Space Systems hit the road RS1 rocket launched from Alaska. Both rockets failed and investigations are underway to determine what went wrong.
The jet streamers that cut through our skies every day may seem harmless, but these tiny clouds of ice are actually bad for the environment.
Condensation trails formed when ice crystals gather around tiny particles emitted by jet engines trap more heat than carbon dioxide emissions from burning fuel. The longevity of contrails depends on atmospheric conditions.
Researchers believe so slightly changes the routes of special flights can help reduce harm.
Before you go, check out these stories:
– It could be an unusual shining star dust-bombed by a mysterious star companion for years.
— Europe’s “bog bodies,” the incredibly well-preserved mummies and skeletons found in peat and bogs, reveals some brutal realities of prehistoric life.
– Astronomers discovered it the closest supermassive black hole pair ever observed at many wavelengths of light. The cosmic bodies were brought together by colliding galaxies.
