Locate and analyze two news reports of recent astronomical discoveries. Required

Question

Locate and analyze two news reports of recent astronomical discoveries. Required Items: The internet and/or periodicals such as (for example) The Washington Post or Sky and Telescope The daily news is not just sports and politics. It includes science too! For this simple activity all you need to do is find two articles related to astronomy (either online or in hard copy), summarize and analyze them. The topics can be anything of your choosing so long as they are relevant to the course material. Examples could be a new telescope that has recently come online, the discovery of a new exoplanet, etc.; the idea is for you to find and write up something you are interested in! The writeup should be roughly one page long (double-spaced); the first half should be a summary of what was discovered, and the second should be your analysis of it--did it make sense? Was it well-written? Did it tie into things we've discussed in class? What are some of the ramifications, etc.? Include the complete citation of the original article (hyperlinked if it is from the internet). Make sure your sources are reputable ones, whether online or not; if you have any concerns about whether that's the case or not, please simply contact me and I can give you my opinion.

Explanation / Answer

Discovery of a new exoplanet:

Summary:

Astronomers have found at least seven Earth-sized planets orbiting the same star 40 light-years away.The seven exoplanets were all found in tight formation around an ultracool dwarf star called TRAPPIST-1. Estimates of their mass also indicate that they are rocky planets, rather than being gaseous like Jupiter. Three planets are in the habitable zone of the star, known as TRAPPIST-1e, f and g, and may even have oceans on the surface.The planets are so close to each other and the star that there are seven of them within a space five times smaller than the distance from Mercury to our sun. This proximity allows the researchers to study the planets in depth as well, gaining insight about planetary systems other than our own.The seven planets of TRAPPIST-1 compared with Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.On TRAPPIST-1f, the star would appear three times as big as the sun in our sky. And because of the red nature of the star, the light would be a salmon hue, the researchers speculate.

Analysis:

This discovery outside of our solar system is rare because the planets have the winning combination of being similar in size to Earth and being all temperate, meaning they could have water on their surfaces and potentially support life.This is the first time that so many planets of this kind are found around the same star.I think we've made a crucial step towards finding if there is life out there.I don't think any time before we had the right planets to discover and find out if there was (life). Here, if life managed to thrive and releases gases similar to what we have on Earth, we will know.

Hubble Space Telescope (HST) :

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. Although not the first space telescope, Hubble is one of the largest and most versatile, and is well known as both a vital research tool and a public relations boon for astronomy. The HST is named after the astronomer Edwin Hubble, and is one of NASA's Great Observatories, along with the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Spitzer Space Telescope.With a 2.4-meter (7.9 ft) mirror, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infraredspectra. Hubble's orbit outside the distortion of Earth's atmosphere allows it to take extremely high-resolution images, with substantially lower background light than ground-based telescopes. Hubble has recorded some of the most detailed visible light images ever, allowing a deep view into space and time. Many Hubble observations have led to breakthroughs in astrophysics, such as accurately determining the rate of expansion of the universe.

Analysis:

Allowing any nation to utilize the telescope helped many.this is an excellent discovery in the field of astronomy.this lead to many other discoveries including the exoplanet discovery in the recent times.Hubble has observed the furthest away galaxies and the most ancient starlight ever seen by humankind.Hubble has calculated the age of the cosmos and discovered the Universe is expanding at an ever faster rate.

this is about the analysis and summary of two of the most important discoveries in the field of astronomy.

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