
Huge planet discovered orbiting tiny star puzzles scientists
PARIS: Astronomers announced Wednesday they have discovered a massive planet orbiting a tiny star, a bizarre pairing that has stumped scientists. Most of the stars across the Milky Way are small red dwarfs like TOI-6894, which has only 20 percent the mass of our Sun. It had not been thought possible that such puny, weak stars could provide the conditions needed to form and host huge planets.
But an international team of astronomers have detected the unmistakable signature of a gas giant planet orbiting the undersized TOI-6894, according to a study in the journal Nature Astronomy.
This makes the star the smallest star yet known to host a gas giant.

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Business Recorder
6 days ago
- Business Recorder
Huge planet discovered orbiting tiny star puzzles scientists
PARIS: Astronomers announced Wednesday they have discovered a massive planet orbiting a tiny star, a bizarre pairing that has stumped scientists. Most of the stars across the Milky Way are small red dwarfs like TOI-6894, which has only 20 percent the mass of our Sun. It had not been thought possible that such puny, weak stars could provide the conditions needed to form and host huge planets. But an international team of astronomers have detected the unmistakable signature of a gas giant planet orbiting the undersized TOI-6894, according to a study in the journal Nature Astronomy. This makes the star the smallest star yet known to host a gas giant.


Express Tribune
02-06-2025
- Express Tribune
'From near-certainty to a coin flip'
The Milky Way may not have a catastrophic collision with another huge galaxy as has been predicted, computer simulations revealed Monday, giving our home galaxy a coin-flip chance of avoiding destruction. But don't worry either way: no galactic smash-up is expected for billions of years, long after our ageing Sun will have burnt away all life on Earth. The Milky Way and the even-larger galaxy Andromeda are speeding towards each other at 100 kilometres (60 miles) a second, and scientists have long predicted they will collide in around 4.5 billion years. That would be bad news for our neighbourhood. Previous research has suggested that the Sun -- and our Earth -- could wind up in the centre of this newly merged "Milkomeda" galaxy and get sucked into its supermassive black hole. Alternatively, the Sun could be shot out into the emptiness of intergalactic space. However, "proclamations of the impending demise of our galaxy seem greatly exaggerated", according to a new study in the journal Nature Astronomy. There is only a roughly 50 per cent chance the Milky Way and Andromeda will smash into each other in the next 10 billion years, the international team of astrophysicists determined. "It's basically a coin flip," lead study author Till Sawala of the University of Helsinki told AFP. The researchers ran more than 100,000 computer simulations of our universe's future, using new observations from space telescopes. AFP


Express Tribune
11-04-2025
- Express Tribune
NASA astronaut shares mesmerising aurora videos from space
Listen to article Veteran NASA astronaut Don Pettit has released breathtaking videos of green auroras captured from the International Space Station (ISS), revealing a dazzling view of Earth's atmospheric phenomena from above. The 69-year-old astronaut shared several clips this week on X (formerly Twitter), showcasing vibrant green ribbons of light glowing beneath the ISS as it flew over the southern hemisphere between Australia and Antarctica. Formation flying; Starlink satellites tracing parallel lines in the sky. Thanks to @BabakTafreshi for assembling this clip from timelapse images. — Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit) April 11, 2025 Auroras, commonly known as the Northern and Southern Lights, occur when charged particles from the Sun — often released during coronal mass ejections (CMEs) — collide with gases in Earth's upper atmosphere. These collisions excite oxygen and nitrogen molecules, producing glowing lights in green, red, blue, or pink. NASA explains that auroras are most visible near the poles, where the Earth's magnetic field is strongest. From space, these phenomena are not only visible but often more dramatic. Pettit, currently on his fourth mission aboard the ISS, also posted a timelapse of Elon Musk's Starlink satellites moving in formation, and a rare video of upper atmospheric lightning, known as Transient Luminous Events (TLEs), above the Amazon. These brief flashes include exotic phenomena like sprites and blue jets. Earlier this week, Pettit also filmed the station's rotation during a Soyuz docking manoeuvre that brought astronauts Jonny Kim, Sergei Ryzhikov, and Alexei Zubritsky to the ISS for an eight-month mission. The spacecraft's arrival required the ISS to rotate 180 degrees, flying backwards at 17,500mph — allowing for more stunning aurora footage. Widely praised for his visual storytelling from orbit, Pettit has logged over 370 days in space and more than 13 hours of spacewalks. His latest clips, described by fans as 'phenomenal' and 'timelapse gold,' have sparked calls for a documentary compilation of his work. He is expected to return to Earth later this month along with Russian cosmonauts Aleksey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner.