For the next month, January 20 through February 20, we will be treated to a rare spectacle in the sky. The five planets closest to Earth, will align in the sky.
The October night sky will feature several planets visible in the overnight sky. First catch Saturn, then Jupiter, Mars and Venus, and finally Mercury in the night sky as this month's planetary parade begins.
A new study about life on other planets suggests pollution may be the key in finding alien civilizations. This would be a new approach to finding extraterrestrial life by studying the atmospheres of planets.
NASA announced the discovery of 715 new planets. Now just to get a feel for the scope of this announcement, about 1,000 planets total had been identified in our galaxy. That is before this week.
Three new planets have been discovered by astronomers that are close to Earth-size and are the right distance from their sun to make the temperature similar to Earth’s. The planets were discovered in what scientists call the ‘habitable zone’ where the surface of the planet isn’t too hot or too cold.