Astronomy Picture of the Day

How You Squeeze Planetary Minerals Changes Everything
Posted on: 29 Oct 2026

Studying the interiors of planets is essential for understanding planetary formation, evolution, and their ability to potentially host life as we know it. To accomplish this, researchers use a combination of Earth as an analog, computer models, meteorites, and data collected from other planetary bodies for studying their interior compositions. As a result, scientists have determined that the elements of magnesium and silicon are the most abundant planetary building blocks. And, under extreme pressures like the interior mantle of our planet, it forms magnesium oxide (MgO) crystals. But how does this same process occur under different pressures and temperatures on other planets like gas giants and larger rocky exoplanets called super-Earths?

It's a Ghost! No, It's a Stellar Crèche!
Posted on: 29 Oct 2026

Astronomers using the Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO), the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) zeroed in on a wispy-looking region of the Carina Nebula and found a ghostly looking cloud seemingly floating in isolation among the other clouds of gas and dust. Just in time for Hallowe'en, although, it turns out that little cloud isn't the soul of departed stars. Instead, it's a region of the nebula has been actively engaged in creating batches of hot, young new stars.