Interstellar Crashes could throw out Habitable Planets
Our solar system, where planets have a range of sizes and move in near-circular paths, may be rather unusual, according to a German-British team led by Professor Pavel Kroupa of the University of Bonn. The astronomers, who publish their model in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, find that forming planetary systems may be knocked around by crashes with nearby clumps of material, leading to systems where planets have highly inclined orbits and where the smaller (and potentially habitable) worlds are thrown out completely.
James Webb Space Telescope technician
This is the James Webb Space Telescope at Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, and the face of project scientist Mark Clampin is reflected in the flight mirrors. The successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, JWST is due to launch in 2014.
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Floating alone Planets may be more common than Stars
Astronomers, including a NASA-funded team member, have discovered a new class of Jupiter-sized planets floating alone in the dark of space, away from the light of a star. The team believes these lone worlds were probably ejected from developing planetary systems.
