Earth's axial tilt (its obliquity) is 23.5 degrees, a significant fact for those of us who enjoy seasonal change. The 'tilt' is the angle between our planet's rotational axis and its orbital axis. If we look at Earth's obliquity over time, we find a 41,000 year cycle...
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TRAPPIST-1h: Drawing on K2 Data
The data recently made available from Campaign 12 of K2 (the Kepler spacecraft’s two-reaction wheel mission) is already paying off in the form of information about the outermost planet in the TRAPPIST-1 system. Campaign 12 (described in Kepler Data on TRAPPIST-1...
Ceres: Close Look at Occator Crater
We've looked recently at the possibility of cryovolcanism on Ceres with regard to the unusual feature called Ahuna Mons (see Ice Volcanoes on Ceres?). Now we have further evidence that outbursts of brine from beneath the surface have been occurring over long periods...
Planet Formation inside a Circumbinary ‘Snowline’
The binary system SDSS 1557, about 1000 light years from Earth, was thought to be a single white dwarf star until detailed measurements revealed that the brighter star was being gravitationally influenced by a hither unseen brown dwarf. And that, in turn, has given us...
A KBO-like Object around another Star?
We're beginning to find evidence of objects like those in the Kuiper Belt beyond our own solar system. In this case, the work involves a white dwarf whose atmosphere has been recently polluted by an infalling object, giving us valuable data on the object's...
NASA Report on Europa Lander
With an ocean containing twice as much water as Earth's oceans, Europa is a high-priority target for astrobiology. But the presence of water alone is not what gives the Jovian moon such interest. After all, we're learning that icy worlds beyond the snowline can...
Agricultural Resources Beyond the Earth
Gaining a human foothold on another world -- Mars is the obvious first case, but we can assume there will be others -- will require a search for resources to support the young colony. In today's essay, Ioannis Kokkinidis looks at our needs in terms of agriculture,...
Uncertain Propulsion Breakthroughs?
Now that the EmDrive has made its way into the peer-reviewed literature, it falls in range of Tau Zero's network of scientist reviewers. Marc Millis, former head of NASA's Breakthrough Propulsion Physics project and founding architect of the Tau Zero Foundation, has...
Orbital Determination for Proxima Centauri
Let’s talk this morning about the relationship of Proxima Centauri to nearby Centauri A and B, because it’s an important issue in our investigations of Proxima b, not to mention the evolution of the entire system. Have a look at the image below, which shows Proxima...
Citizen SETI
I love watching people who have a passion for science constructing projects in ways that benefit the community. I once dabbled in radio astronomy through the Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers, and I could also point to the SETI League, with 1500 members on all...