Sun, stars, and galaxies have always fascinated us from our childhood days. They continue to amaze us even as we grow older and pose many an interesting question in our curious minds. Let us try to explore such interesting topics and unravel some of these mysteries in Space News for Kids.
NASA’s planet hunter finds Earth-sized planet
NASA’s planet hunter satellite TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) has discovered an Earth-sized planet within the habitable range of its star. TESS is a satellite designed to search for Earth-sized planets orbiting nearby stars. The newly found planet has been named “TOI 700 d”, and it orbits its star named “TOI 700”. TOI 700 is a dwarf star located about 100 light years away in the Dorado constellation. It is only about 40% the mass of our Sun and its only half as hot. TOI is the abbreviation for TESS Object of Interest.
TESS, launched in April 2018, uses the “transit method” and looks for dips in stellar brightness, to identify planets. TESS found three planets orbiting TOI 700: TOI 700 b, TOI 700 c, and TOI 700 d, in the order of increasing distance from the center. Among the three, TOI 700 d is the Earth-sized planet that lies within the habitable zone of its star. TOI 700 d orbits around its star in 37 days. It is a little larger than the Earth and receives about 86% of the energy that Earth receives from Sun. Scientists have come up with models to predict its atmospheric conditions and check the suitability for habitation.
The only habitable planets known to the world about a decade back were only Earth and Mars. In the last decade, scientists have discovered about a dozen exoplanets, some of which are comparable to the size of Earth.
An 800,000 years old meteorite crater discovered
A crater that scientists have been searching for more than 100 years has finally been discovered. The scientist community already knew about a 1.2 mile wide meteorite that hit the Earth about 800,000 years ago. The impact led to the scattering of rocky, glass-like debris known as tektites across the Eastern Hemisphere. But, they had not been successful in locating the impact site, until recently.
Scientists have finally predicted this elusive crater to be located in the south-eastern region on Laos, in the Bolevan plateau region. This crater may be lying beneath lava in the volcanic fields of the Bolevan plateau. To confirm the theory, scientists will need to drill down a bit to analyze the rocks below the lava, and identify if the rocks are as expected from an impact site. Keep checking Space News for Kids for further updates.
Idlis in Space – Gaganyaan Menu
India’s upcoming space mission Gaganyaan, planned for launch in 2021, is all set to entice the palates of the astronauts with a mouth-watering menu. Idli-sambar, upma, coconut chutney, moong dal halwa, etc. will be going up in the orbit, in India’s manned space mission Gaganyaan. Astronauts will also be provided liquids like water and juices in specially designed containers. The menu has been designed by the Defense Food Research Laboratory, Mysore. Food heaters will also be made available to the astronauts on the mission.
Gaganyaan mission from ISRO targets to orbit the Earth at an altitude of 400 km, for about 7 days. This mission is significant as it would make India the fourth country in the world after Russia, United States, and China to launch a manned space mission. You may also know that Yuri Gagarin from the erstwhile USSR was the first person to travel in space. He was part of the first crewed space mission Vostok 1.
Hope you found the information in Space News for Kids exciting and interesting. Read many more such amazing news items from around the world, in our News section.
