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#planet

27 posts25 participants5 posts today
[Thus], to describe and maintain something as a ‘world’, does (and requires) cultural work. Exoplantet astronomers make worlds constantly, and attending to how and why they do might open ways "‘world” can be more richly used by analysts involved in conversations concerning the planetary. “World” unlike “planet”, connotes an inextricable linking between Earth and humanity. It is this relationship that astronomers leverage. “World” elevates the exoplanet above a scientific thing, marking it as something, someplace, that is relatable to our own experience and existence. - reading Lisa Messeri’s book Placing Outer Space for research on imagination and space exploration.

🌕 What are the definitions of 'world'?
🌔 What role does imaginairies (such as collective imaginings through sci-fi narratives), play in vizualizing alien worlds?
🌗 What are important cultural differences and biases in imagining alien worlds and building definitions?
🌑 Astronomers are trained in reading light curve graphs - recognizing 'worlds' not 'planets' (as Messeri states), what do they 'see'? And how is this 'seeing' conneted to understanding?

Sunrise at 05.30 am, at Brac Coatia.

#sunrise #helloworld #croatia #philosophy #space #moon #planet #scifi

Due to extreme temperatures and the dryness of #Mars, it's thought to be impossible for liquid #water to form on the #planet's surface, a critical precondition for #habitability.

The only hope of finding liquid water appears to be in the form of brines, which are liquids with high concentrations of salts that can freeze at much lower temperatures.

Melting frost presents the best chance to find liquid brines on Mars, but there's a catch: frost on Mars tends to sublimate quickly, which means it transitions from a solid to a gas without spending time in a liquid state due to Mars' unique atmospheric conditions.

However, there appears to be brief window in late winter and early spring when the conditions were right for the formation of brines.

#astrobiology
phys.org/news/2025-07-liquid-b

Phys.org · Study suggests liquid brines could form on Mars surface during seasonal frost meltingBy University of Arkansas

Orbital Decay of the Ultra-hot Jupiter TOI-2109b - Tidal Constraints and Transit-timing Analysis: iopscience.iop.org/article/10. -> Doomed planet's death spiral could reveal stellar secrets: lighthouse.mq.edu.au/article/j - astronomers led by a team at Macquarie University have tracked an extreme #planet’s orbital decay to understand how stars dissipate energy.

iopscience.iop.orgRadware Bot Manager Captcha