Exoplanet Discoveries – NeRDs Moonbase

Discovery Alert: Glowing Cloud Points to a Cosmic Collision

February 17, 2024 NeRD

3 min read Discovery Alert: Glowing Cloud Points to a Cosmic Collision This illustration depicts the aftermath of a collision between two giant exoplanets. What remains is a hot, molten planetary core and a swirling, glowing cloud of dust and debris. Mark A. Garlick The Discovery: A glowing cosmic cloud has revealed a cataclysmic collision. Key Facts: Even within our own solar system, scientists have seen evidence of giant, planetary collisions from long ago. Remaining clues like Uranus’ tilt and the existence of Earth’s moon point to times in our…

Discovery Alert: The Planet that Shouldn’t Be There

September 29, 2023 NeRD

3 min read Discovery Alert: The Planet that Shouldn’t Be There Artist’s rendering of planet 8 Ursae Minoris b – also known as “Halla” – amid the field of debris after a violent merger of two stars. The planet might have survived the merger, but also might be an entirely new planet formed from the debris. W. M. Keck Observatory/Adam Makarenko By Pat Brennan NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program The discovery: A large planet is somehow orbiting a star that should have destroyed it. Key facts: Planet 8 Ursae Minoris b orbits a…