Space Quote: An Odd Solar System

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Image by AstroGraphix_Visuals from Pixabay

“The paradigm of planet formation is that we have rocky inner planets very close to the stars, like in our solar system…This is the first time in which we have a rocky planet so far away from its host star, and after these gas-rich planets.”

-Statement by Thomas Wilson, an assistant professor in the department of physics at the University of Warwick in England, as quoted by KLS.com. He was referring to the findings in his recent paper about a solar system 116 light-years away with four exoplanets orbiting a red dwarf star – an inner rocky exoplanet, two gaseous exoplanets second and third from the parent star, and a final rocky exoplanet. Of course, that’s what we had here until 2006 when some wise guy decided to make Pluto a dwarf planet. It’s all in the definition.

Carnegie Astronomy Lecture Series

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. (Carnegie Science)

If you are stuck inside with the winter weather and looking for something to do, you can either head to sunny California to attend the March Carnegie Astronomy Lectures Series at The Huntington in San Marino or watch them on YouTube. This will be a series of four lectures.

On March 2nd, the first lecture of the series is titled “Ultraviolet Suspects: Using Galaxies to Shed Light on the Early Universe.” It is a free event, but you do need to register.

Here is a little more about this upcoming lecture:

One of the universe’s last phase changes, reionization, took place within the first billion years of its cosmic history. Today, astronomers can use the ultraviolet signals from distant galaxies to investigate the “who,” “when,” and “how” of that critical period. In this talk, Carnegie Science Observatories postdoc Tony Pahl will present his research on the high-energy radiation leaking from galaxies, which leverages data collected with a combination of instruments, including NASA’s JWST, the Keck Observatory telescopes in Hawaii, and Carnegie’s own twin Magellan telescopes at our Las Campanas Observatory in Chile.

The other March astronomy lectures are:

  • March 16: Planetary Habitability: The Origin of Water
  • March 30: Shining a Light on Dark Matter
  • April 13: How To Look Inside An Exoplanet

Information on the upcoming March Astronomy Lecture Series will be posted on the Carnegie Science site.

You can also watch a variety of earlier lectures at the Carnegie Science YouTube link.

Study Findings: Electrical Conductivities of (Mg,Fe)O at Extreme Pressures and Implications for Planetary Magma Oceans

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Artist’s rendering of deep layers of molten rock inside a super-earth generating powerful magnetic fields. (University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics illustration / Michael Franchot)

Nature Astronomy abstract of study findings:

During planet formation, planets undergo many impacts that can generate magma oceans. When these crystallize, part of the magma densifies via iron enrichment and migrates to the core–mantle boundary, forming an iron-rich basal magma ocean (BMO). The BMO could generate a dynamo in early Earth and super-Earths if the electrical conductivity of the BMO, which is thought to be sensitive to its Fe content, is sufficiently high. To test this hypothesis, here we conduct laser-driven shock experiments on ferropericlase (Mgx,Fe1−x)O (0.95 ≤ x ≤ 1) as an Fe-rich BMO analogue, perform density functional theory molecular dynamics simulations on MgO and calculate the long-term evolution of super-Earths. We find that the d.c. conductivities of MgO and (Mg,Fe)O are indistinguishable between 467 GPa and 1,400 GPa, despite previous predictions. We predict that super-Earths larger than 3–6 Earth masses can produce BMO-driven dynamos that are almost one order of magnitude stronger than core-driven dynamos for several billion years.

Citation: Nakajima, M., Harter, S.K., Jasko, A.V. et al. Electrical conductivities of (Mg,Fe)O at extreme pressures and implications for planetary magma oceans. Nat Astron (2026).

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02729-x

Study-related stories:

University of Rochester – “Hidden Magma Oceans Could Shield Rocky Exoplanets from Harmful Radiation”

Earth Sky – “Powerful Magnetic Fields on Super-Earths Could Boost Chances of Life”

Universe Today – “Deep Magma Oceans Could Help Make Super-Earths Habitable”

Video: Brian Cox Talks About Alien Life – A 2026 Special

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Professor Brian Cox discussing the evolution of intelligence. (Science Time channel)

If you have followed the career of English physicist Brian Cox, then you know he is a dynamic speaker who has hosted several series on astronomy, including Wonders of the Solar System and Wonders of the Universe.

In this short video from Science Time channel, “Brian Cox Talks About Alien Life – A 2026 Special,” Professor Cox walks the viewer through the chances of finding intelligent life among the 60 billion exoplanets in our galaxy that lie within the habitable zone. To be clear, he is not very optimistic.

The series does not cover much new ground except for some hopeful comments about the James Webb Space Telescope investigating the atmospheres of exoplanet (with Professor Cox wondering whether we will find life on an exoplanet before we find it on Mars). Even so, it is still enjoyable to spend a little bit of time playing around with the Fermi Paradox again.

One of the more intriguing ideas being discussed here and elsewhere is the idea that we may not want to limit our ideas to biological life. The longevity of a civilization may be dependent on its ability to evolve from carbon-based to silicon-based lifeforms. While not explicitly discussed in the video, that could broaden our search beyond a star’s habitable zone yet also frustrate our attempts to find biological signatures in an exoplanet’s atmosphere.

Again, it is worth your time to listen in. I would just ignore the goofy animations that accompany the discussion.

Pandora and Friends Start New Missions

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): An artist’s rendering of NASA’s Pandora mission. (NASA)

Earlier today, NASA’s Pandora mission got its start aboard a SpaceX rocket launched from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base.

The Pandora satellite, once fully operational, will view exoplanet atmospheres and their host stars to learn more about these exotic worlds. In its first year, the satellite will focus on approximately 20 known exoplanets. This NASA video describes the process.

The 716-pound Pandora satellite is much smaller than the 14,300-pound James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Of course, the JWST has a much larger mission that expands over a much longer time period.

If you are looking for something small, you might be interested in the two CubeSats launched with Pandora. One is called the Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat (SPARCS), which will study coronal mass ejections on small stars, while the second is named the Black Hole Coded Aperture Telescope (BlackCAT) with the mission of observing X-ray flares from active galaxies with supermassive black holes as well as gamma-ray bursts.

It was a successful Sunday for NASA and space enthusiasts everywhere.