Watching the Watchers With Nancy Grace Roman

By Brian Koberlein - June 26, 2023 02:53 PM UTC | Telescopes
Astronomers have discovered thousands of planets using the transit technique, watching how distant stars dim as a planet passes in between us and the star. A small group of stars is lined up so alien astronomers can discover Earth using the same transit technique. In a new paper, researchers suggest that the upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Telescope should scan this Earth's transiting zone for habitable planets. If there are other advanced civilizations there, they should know we're here and would be the ideal places to search for signs of intelligence.
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Another Key Amino Acid Found in Space: Tryptophan

By Brian Koberlein - June 25, 2023 01:26 PM UTC | Astrobiology
Astronomers continue to find more and more of the building blocks of life out in space. This time, researchers have announced the discovery of the amino acid tryptophan. They used data from the Spitzer Space Telescope when it observed the Perseus Molecular Complex in the IC348 star system located about 1,000 light-years from Earth. Tryptophan is one of the 20 essential amino acids used in protein formation by life on Earth. It produces a rich spectral signature in infrared, so it was the ideal target for Spitzer and will make an excellent follow-on objective for JWST.
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Extending Earth's Internet to Mars With Orbital Data Servers

By Brian Koberlein - June 24, 2023 04:56 PM UTC | Space Exploration
More spacecraft is due to fly to Mars and will send their data home. Human explorers will want to access research documents and communicate the findings to Earth. This will require extending Earth's internet to Mars. A new study suggests that Mars will eventually require its constellation of satellites, provide local computing at Mars, and supply as much information as possible locally.
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There Could Be Captured Planets in the Oort Cloud

By Brian Koberlein - June 24, 2023 11:17 AM UTC | Planetary Science
The early Solar System was a turbulent and chaotic place with icy material hurled far from the Sun, becoming the Oort Cloud. Larger objects and planets were probably hurled into the Oort Cloud too, and some might have been kicked out of the Solar System entirely. If a similar situation happened in other star systems, planets could lurk out in the Oort Cloud.
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