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K2-315b is an Earth-sized exoplanet with an orbital period of 3.14 days, matching the mathematical constant Pi. 1 post
The planet orbits a cool, red M dwarf star and is likely very warm due to its proximity to the star. 1 post
Discovered in 2020 using data from the Kepler Space Telescope's K2 mission, it is located over 185 light-years away. 1 post
Main Topics (2)
Latest posts
Double Lobed Asteroid Torifune
Double Lobed Asteroid Torifune Image Credit & Copyright: JAXA, U. of Tokyo, Chiba Tech, Tokyo U. of Science, AIST, Paris Obs., IAC Explanation: Why is this asteroid a double? Earlier this month the Japanese robotic spacecraft Hayabusa2 shot past asteroid 98943 Torifune a
Auroras from Space
Auroras from Space Image Credit: ESA, NASA, ISS Expedition 74; Capture: Sophie Adenot; Circle of Light (Patrick Hawes & Grace Davidson) Explanation: What do auroras look like from above? Behold! From the ground, auroras dance high above clouds, frequently causing spec
Galaxy NGC 474: Shells and Star Streams
Galaxy NGC 474: Shells and Star Streams Image Credit & License: CFHT, Coelum, MegaCam, J.-C. Cuillandre (CFHT) & G. A. Anselmi (Coelum) Explanation: What's happening to galaxy NGC 474? The multiple layers of emission appear strangely complex given the relatively featureles
Messier 24: Sagittarius Star Cloud
Messier 24: Sagittarius Star Cloud Image Credit & Copyright: Chuck Ayoub Explanation: Unlike most entries in Charles Messier's famous catalog of deep sky objects, M24 is not a bright galaxy, star cluster, or nebula. It's a gap in nearby, obscuring interstellar dust clouds that allo
Western Moon, Eastern Sea
Western Moon, Eastern Sea Image Credit & Copyright: Guy Bardon Explanation: The Mare Orientale, Latin for Eastern Sea, is one of the most striking large scale lunar features. The youngest of the large lunar impact basins it's very difficult to see from an earthbound perspective.
The Red Glow of the Cosmic Bat Nebula
The Red Glow of the Cosmic Bat Nebula Image Credit & Copyright: Humbert Cédric Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II) Explanation: This Cosmic Bat wishes you a happy Summerween! This mid-year celebration of Halloween transcends hemispheres, even though su
Swift Boost Mission
Swift Boost Mission Image Credit: Katalyst Space Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II) Explanation: Sometimes we can all use a little help from a friend. NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory needs a boost to stay in orbit after almost 22 years of serv
NGC 6188: Dragons of Ara
NGC 6188: Dragons of Ara Image Credit & Copyright: Rod Prazeres Explanation: Where can you find dragons fighting in the night sky? In the southern constellation of the Altar: Ara. The dragons are, of course, actually made of suggestively shaped gas and dust. The celestial ho
Dueling Bands over the Atacama Desert
Dueling Bands over the Atacama Desert Image Credit & Copyright: Julien Looten Explanation: What are these two bands in the sky? The more commonly seen band is on the left and is the central band of our Milky Way galaxy. Our Sun orbits in the disk of this spiral galaxy so that
Saturns Iapetus: Painted Moon
Saturn's Iapetus: Painted Moon Image Credit: NASA, ESA, JPL, SSI, Cassini Imaging Team Explanation: What has happened to Saturn's moon Iapetus? Vast sections of this strange world are dark as coal, while others are as bright as snow. To help better understand this unusually t
Pathfinder on Mars
Pathfinder on Mars Image Credit: Mars Pathfinder, JPL, NASA Explanation: On July 4th, 1997, using its own array of fireworks, a parachute, and a cocoon of airbags, the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft bounced like a giant beach ball at least 15 times before it came to rest on the surface
Three Galaxies in Pavo
Three Galaxies in Pavo Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Selby Explanation: Some 190 million light-years away, far beyond the bright stars and nebulae of the Milky Way, these three galaxies are drawn together by gravity in a mesmerizing cosmic dance. Clearly distorted by galactic-sc
Sibling Supernova Remnants
Sibling Supernova Remnants Image Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and M. Michailidis et al. 2026; optical: DSS; infrared: NASA/WISE/JPL-Caltech/UCLA; ultraviolet: NASA/Swift Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II) Explanation: What happens when one of
The Cotton Candy Clouds of Rho Ophiuchi
The Cotton Candy Clouds of Rho Ophiuchi Image Credit & Copyright: Ángel Molina Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II) Explanation: Although they look like cotton candy, you cannot eat these clouds! Taken in Cádiz, Spain, today's image features the Rho Op
Unusually Smooth Sections of Asteroid Itokawa
Unusually Smooth Sections of Asteroid Itokawa Image Credit: JAXA, ISAS Explanation: Why are parts of this asteroid's surface so smooth? The answer seems likely to do with the dynamics of an asteroid that is a loose pile of rubble rather than a solid rock. The unusual asteroid
M82: Galaxy with a Supergalactic Wind
M82: Galaxy with a Supergalactic Wind Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, A. Smercina (STScI, Tufts), T. Williams (U. Manchester); Image Processing: A. Pagan (STScI) Explanation: Why is the Cigar Galaxy billowing red smoke? M82, as this starburst galaxy is also known, was stirred u
AR 4478: Giant Sunspot Group
AR 4478: Giant Sunspot Group Image Credit & Copyright: Alfredo Vidal Pérez Explanation: Right now, one of the largest sunspot groups in recent history is crossing the Sun. Active Region 4478 is not only big -- it's violent, showing tangled magnetic fields capable of throwing off hu
Mars Marathon by Perseverance
Mars Marathon by Perseverance Image Credit: NASA, LPL (U. Arizona), MRO, HiRISE Explanation: In this recent HiRISE view from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the little green dot indicated on the surface of the big Red Planet is the Perseverance Mars rover. Recorded on June 13
Milky Way Urban Style
Milky Way Urban Style Image Credit & Copyright: Shingoo Lee Explanation: In a cosmic vista you can never see, the Milky Way arcs through the night above Seoul, South Korea. Remarkably, this urban night skyscape reveals our galaxy's faintly luminous central region and dark obscurin
Anticrepuscular Rays over Sicily
Anticrepuscular Rays over Sicily Image Credit & Copyright: Marcella Giulia Pace Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II) Explanation: The Sun has just set... in the opposite side of the sky. Pictured here are anticrepuscular rays apparently converging in t
SDO Observes a Coronal Mass Ejection
SDO Observes a Coronal Mass Ejection Video Credit: NASA, SDO, AIA; Processing: Richard Petarius III (MTU) Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II) Explanation: Why does the Sun throw stuff at us? The Sun’s surface is a churning soup of energetic electrons
Flying Past Neptunes Moon Triton
Flying Past Neptune's Moon Triton Image Credit: NASA; JPL, Voyager 2, Digital composition: Paul Schenk (LPI, USRA) Explanation: What would it look like to fly past Triton, the largest moon of planet Neptune? Only one spacecraft has ever done this -- and the images of this d
M27: The Dumbbell Nebula
M27: The Dumbbell Nebula Image Credit & Copyright: Francesco Antonucci Explanation: Is this what will become of our Sun? Quite possibly. The first hint of our Sun's future was discovered inadvertently in 1764. At that time, Charles Messier was compiling a list of diffuse objects
Keogram: The Sky in 2025
Keogram: The Sky in 2025 Image Credit & License: Cees Bassa (Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy) Explanation: What if you could see the entire sky -- all at once -- for an entire year? That, very nearly, is what is pictured here. Every 15 seconds during 2025, an all-sky c
Daytime Moon Meets Evening Star
Daytime Moon Meets Evening Star Image Credit & Copyright: Debra Ceravolo Explanation: Venus is now appearing on the celestial stage as Earth's brilliant evening star, performing with the Moon, other wandering planets, and bright stars in western skies. For evening sky gazers on Ju