Milky Way

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Milky Way Has 17B Planets the Size of Ours

And that's a conservative estimate

(Newser) - Before we start feeling too special about our home planet, scientists have a message: There are at least 17 billion planets the size of Earth in the Milky Way alone, Space.com reports. About 17% of our galaxy's stars have Earth-size exoplanets closely orbiting them—so 100 billion stars...

Milky Way: Home to 100B+ Planets
 Milky Way: Home to 
 100B+ Planets 
new study
Jan 3, 2013 1:07 PM CST

Milky Way: Home to 100B+ Planets

New study comes up with conservative estimate

(Newser) - Scientists have done a sort of "cosmic census," completing a new study that finds the Milky Way galaxy is home to 100 billion alien planets—and maybe even many more than that. "It's a staggering number, if you think about it," says the lead author....

Prediction: We'll Discover 1st 'Earth Twin' in 2013

With 50B planets in Milky Way, astronomers think big discovery looms

(Newser) - With more than 800 exoplanets identified since 1995, many astronomers are predicting that 2013 will be the year that the first truly Earth-like planet is spotted, reports Space . Scientists have gotten ever closer to finding an alien Earth in recent years, identifying several in the right temperature range and others...

Bye-Bye, Milky Way —in Just 4B Years

Andromeda galaxy will smash into it

(Newser) - Our Milky Way is on a crash course with the (relatively) nearby Andromeda galaxy, and the two are scheduled to smash into each other—in just 4 billion years, reports the Christian Science Monitor . Actually, the two galaxies will collide three times over the following 2 billion years, eventually forming...

White Dwarfs Yield Key to Age of Ancient Stars

Astronomer used white dwarfs to calculate age of Milky Way's inner halo

(Newser) - Accurately measuring the age of low-mass, hydrogen burning stars is notoriously difficult, but now astronomers say they have come up with a technique for measuring those difficult stars using white dwarfs, reports the LA Times . A white dwarf is a star that has burned through all of its hydrogen, shed...

Milky Way Has Tens of Billions of Habitable Planets

These super-Earths are all over the galaxy, say scientists

(Newser) - Could aliens be hanging out in the Milky Way? A new discovery by astronomers shows they'd have plenty of possible homes in the galaxy, reports Reuters . The researchers found that tens of billions of planets reside in a habitable zone close to a star, allowing water to flow on...

Astronomers: Yep, Milky Way Is White

And it has a lot of planets

(Newser) - What does the Milky Way look like, from outside the Milky Way? It seems like an impossible question to answer, but astronomers found a way—and discovered in the process that the Milky Way is, as one might have guessed, white. "If you looked at new spring snow, which...

Local Black Hole About to Chow Down

Milky Way's super-massive black hole to devour gas cloud

(Newser) - The super-massive black hole at the heart of our galaxy is about to have a feast—and astronomers think it's going to be messy. A giant gas cloud has been spotted approaching the black hole, which lies some 27,000 light years from Earth. Scientists believe the cloud will...

Scientists Find Orphan Planets Without Stars

Astronomers discover 10 in Milky Way that don't orbit another body

(Newser) - They're outcasts on a galactic scale, rebels without a star: Astronomers think they have discovered 10 massive planets that defy a standard definition of what it means to be a planet: They orbit no star. What's more, the astronomers believe there are many, many more roaming free about...

Alien Planet Discovered in Milky Way

HIP 13044B and its star originated in different galaxy

(Newser) - As planets go, HIP 13044B is one hell of a survivor. Astronomers say the planet—the first one originating from another galaxy ever found in the Milky Way—is part of a solar system that once belonged to a dwarf galaxy that was cannibalized by our own. The planet has...

Milky Way Emits Huge Gamma Ray Bubbles

Massive bubbles of energy stump astrophysicists

(Newser) - Scientists say they have discovered two vast and mysterious bubbles of gamma-ray energy coming from the center of our galaxy. The bubbles, which extend an incredible 25,000 light years above and below the galaxy's plane, were discovered by scientists analyzing data from NASA's Fermi telescope, the Los Angeles Times...

Space Telescope Captures Big Bang Radiation

Planck beams back microwave map of entire sky

(Newser) - The European Space Agency’s Planck space telescope has beamed back its first, much-anticipated image: a map of the entire sky, composed of microwave light. That bright line in the center of the image is our own Milky Way galaxy, and the lights surrounding it represent not stars but the...

Telescope Spots 'Impossible' Star

 Telescope Spots 
 'Impossible' Star 
so big it dwarfs our sun
May 11, 2010 8:40 AM CDT

Telescope Spots 'Impossible' Star

Will become one of biggest and brightest in galaxy

(Newser) - The Herschel telescope has made an "impossible" discovery: a star so large it dwarfs our sun—and it's still growing. The newborn is already eight to 10 times the size of the sun, and will continue to feed off the 2,000 solar masses that surround it. While scientists...

Discovery of Earth's Twin 'Within Reach'

Kepler will find habitable planet like ours: astronomer

(Newser) - The Kepler spacecraft prowling the far reaches of the Milky Way will soon find a habitable planet similar to earth, a leading astronomer is convinced. Recent technological advances in the observation of planets outside our own solar system have rapidly brought us closer to finding earth's "twin" planet,...

32 New Exoplanets Discovered
 32 New Exoplanets Discovered 
Oct 20, 2009 3:23 AM CDT

32 New Exoplanets Discovered

New finds signal that cosmos harbors wealth of planets

(Newser) - European astronomers have discovered 32 new planets in other solar systems, bringing the total of known exoplanets to over 400. The planets—which range in size from five times the size of Earth to five times the size of Jupiter—were found circling a variety of stars. The new discoveries...

Orbiting Telescope Snaps Delicious Pics of Milky Way

Herschel captures whirling gas, dust, star in chaotic galaxy

(Newser) - Stunningly detailed images of our Milky Way galaxy showing whirling clouds of gas peppered with stars have been captured by Europe's $1.4 billion orbiting Herschel Space Observatory. Herschel has the largest mirror ever placed on an orbiting telescope and is able to capture images beyond the reach of other...

Scientists Spot Galaxy 'Cannibalism'

Andromeda is consuming other galaxies and the Milky Way's on the menu

(Newser) - The vast Andromeda galaxy has been growing by gobbling up neighboring galaxies, reports the BBC. Astronomers mapping the galaxy—at 2.5 million light years away, the Milky Way's closest neighbor—discovered stars within that they believe to be the remnants of dwarf galaxies consumed by Andromeda. The galaxy is...

'Big Wave' Theory Challenges 'Dark Energy'

(Newser) - The 'Big Wave,' a new explanation for the universe's mysterious accelerating expansion, is sending ripples through the world of astronomy. According to the theory, the Big Bang set off a wave, or waves, that rippled outward through space-time, making distant galaxies appear to expand away from us. Mathematicians came...

Scientists Discover Bigger, Faster Milky Way

Scientists revise image of our galaxy

(Newser) - A study of the Milky Way using radio telescopes scattered across the US paints a new and dramatically different picture of our galaxy, reports Space.com. Our spiral-shaped galaxy is not only spinning faster than previously thought, it has 50% greater mass, with two hitherto unknown spiral arms where many...

3-D Map Adds Light Years to Concept of Universe

Survey used red shift to find relative distances of heavenly bodies

(Newser) - Telescope photographs of the night sky are compelling, but it’s hard to get a feel for the heavens when you’re Earthbound. The recently completed Sloan Digital Sky Survey can help: It is a 3-D map of the area within 2 billion light years of Earth that allows the...

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