Using the ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter / submillimeter Array) telescope, an international team of astronomers has made the first direct observation of the formation of two gaseous planets around the star HD 142527. It’s a star that’s young in astronomical terms, with an age of about two million years more than 450 light years away from Earth.
The Cassini space probe has been orbiting Saturn for more than eight years and yet again in October 2012 it took a series of stunning images of this planet. Cassini was positioned in Saturn’s shadow and from that position it was able to take photographs of the dark side of the planet and its rings as previously happened only in 2006.
The news about the Mars Rover Curiosity mission that opened this week were much less exciting for the audience than rumors about it. Nevertheless, Curiosity has certainly revived people’s attention to the red planet and now NASA has announced a really interesting long-term plan that could culminate with sending astronauts, although only after 2030.
