#planetary_science

Scientists from Italy and Germany have discovered exoplanet GJ 367b, which is likely composed entirely of iron. Using the HARPS spectrograph and TESS observations, they found that more than 90% of the planet's mass is made up of its iron core. Researchers from the University of Turin in Italy and the State Star Observatory of Thuringia in Germany have made an interesting discovery: the exoplanet GJ 367b is most likely composed entirely of iron.  This makes it the densest known planet with a short orbital period. GJ 367b was first spotted in 2015 by NASA's TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) space telescope and has a density 1.85 times that of Earth. [caption id="attachment_69273" align="aligncenter" width="780"] GJ 367b[/caption] Using the European Southern Observatory's HARPS spectrograph and TESS observations, scientists determined that more than 90% of the planet's mass is made up of its iron core. The origin story of GJ 367b remains a mystery, but it may have once been a rocky planet like Earth or Mars. Its two neighboring planets, orbiting further out, are also rocky, indicating that they all formed in a similar way. GJ 367b is an exoplanet consisting only of an iron core However, GJ 367b likely went through a unique series of events that led it to lose its outer rocky layers, leaving only the core. Possible explanations include collisions with another planet closer to the host star. Another possibility is that GJ 367b was intensely irradiated by its star, causing its outer layer to burn away leaving only an iron core. The outer material could turn into gas and then be dispersed into space. It is also possible that GJ 367b underwent a combination of collisions and irradiation to form the metallic planet that astronomers observe today. The question still remains: how did GJ 367b get so close to its star? It is unlikely that it formed there. Scientists believe that gravitational interactions with other planets could have caused it to move away from its original formation site. Further study of GJ 367b could provide valuable insights into the formation and evolution of rocky and short-period planets.

Rocket Lab plans to launch a mission to Venus at the end of 2024, building on its experience from the previous lunar mission At the Venus Exploration Group (VEXAG) meeting, Rocket Lab chief systems engineer Christopher Mundy announced that the company has set a launch date for a mission to Venus called Venus Life Finder of December 30, 2024. The mission will send a small spacecraft to Venus. It is equipped with one instrument - an autofluorescent nephelometer, designed to detect organic compounds in the clouds of the planet. The mission proposed by scientists from MIT aims to search for biomarkers in the atmosphere of Venus. [caption id="attachment_78701" align="aligncenter" width="780"] mission to Venus[/caption] Rocket Lab is preparing to launch a mission to Venus to search for biomarkers in 2024 Rocket Lab is collaborating with MIT and other institutions on this privately funded mission. The launch was previously scheduled for May 2023, but the company postponed it while working on other priority projects. Mandy noted that the Venus mission is a side project that is being developed "in the evenings and weekends."  The company is currently in the process of preparing for the mission. Components such as the probe's thermal protection system from NASA Ames Research Center and the core instrument from Droplet Measurement Technologies are expected to arrive by the end of the year. The spacecraft will then be assembled and tested next year. The launch is scheduled for December 30, 2024. The 315-kilogram spacecraft will be launched into low-Earth orbit using an Electron rocket, followed by a series of orbit-raising maneuvers before heading to Venus for a flyby of the Moon. According to plans, the device will arrive at Venus on May 13, 2025. Once separated from the main body, the probe will collect data for five minutes as it descends through clouds in the upper atmosphere. It will then transmit the collected data for 20 minutes until the atmospheric pressure reaches its maximum level at 22 kilometers altitude, at which time the temperature inside the probe reaches the limit values ​​​​withstandable by the electronics. The mission is being developed using technical solutions used in the NASA-funded CAPSTONE mission launched on an Electron rocket in June 2022. Using existing designs can reduce engineering work and reduce costs. Rocket Lab has not disclosed the cost of this mission, but it is likely within the budget of NASA's smallest class of planetary science missions, SIMPLEx, which has a cap cost of $55 million.

New research based on supercomputer simulations explains the origin of Saturn's rings. Scientists believe that the formation of the rings began with the collision of two icy satellites Saturn's gravitational pull left fragments in the planet's orbit and helped form the rings that astronomers see today. Those fragments that did not fall into the rings most likely became the basis for the creation of some of Saturn's moons. “We still know very little about the Saturn system and its moons, which may support an environment suitable for life. Therefore, it is very interesting to study in detail how they could have evolved,” said researcher Jacob Kegerreys from the NASA Aerospace Center. From 1997 to 2017, NASA's Cassini orbiter space probe explored the Saturn system - its rings, icy moons, and atmospheric properties. One of Cassini's discoveries was that Saturn's rings were younger than expected. With this knowledge, scientists were able to more accurately model Saturn's rings and moons. [caption id="attachment_63437" align="aligncenter" width="780"] Saturn's rings and icy moons[/caption] To create the simulation, the team of scientists used the Distributed Research using Advanced Computing (DiRAC) supercomputer at the University of Durham (UK). They created models of collisions and ring formation under nearly 200 different scenarios and also simulated collisions between other satellites and debris. The resolution of these simulations is more than 100 times higher than previous models of the formation of Saturn's rings. New research explains the origin of Saturn's rings and icy moons The rings of Saturn are close to the planet, within the Roche limit for Saturn - this is the distance from the planet within which a second planetary body breaks up due to tidal forces from the first since the tidal forces exceed the gravitational forces of the second body. During simulations of collisions and ring formation, the researchers found that in a significant proportion of the scenarios, debris was scattered and distributed around Saturn within the Roche limits, which led to the formation of rings. [caption id="attachment_63438" align="aligncenter" width="602"] Saturn's rings and icy moons[/caption] Almost all of Saturn's rings are made up of large shards of ice, with very little rock or other material. Alternative explanations could not explain why there were so few stones in the rings, but in this study, scientists were able to identify this type of collision. There could also have been a chain of collisions in which shards of ice and rock collided with other moons around Saturn. This could lead to the formation of the satellites we see today. Researchers are now convinced that Saturn's rings were formed as a result of the collision of two former moons of Saturn. The next question before them is: what influenced the collision of the satellites? One possible scenario is that the extremely small effects of the Sun's gravity on the moons could slightly destabilize their orbits around Saturn, leading to a collision.