Researchers have found an exoplanet around Barnard’s star. Barnard’s b, the planet found by the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile, is around 20 times closer to its star than Mercury is to the Sun and is about half the size of Venus. Its host star is the closest single star to our Sun (as opposed to the Alpha Centauri triple star system), just six light-years from here. Pictured: An artist’s impression of Barnard’s b and its host star. Image credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser.
Another exoplanet find might hint at Earth’s future fate. Researchers have observed a possible rocky exoplanet orbiting a white dwarf star 4,000 light-years away. Our Sun is expected to end its life cycle by expanding into a red giant — consuming Mercury, Venus, and maybe Earth and Mars — before ending up as a cool, white dwarf about 5 billion years from now. If Earth survives the red giant phase, its fate could be similar to this newly discovered exoplanet.
The Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies may not merge. Astronomers have long thought that our galaxy is on course to collide with the neighboring Andromeda galaxy in 5 billion years. New simulations suggest that this may not be the case because of the gravitational effects of other nearby galaxies, potentially reducing the likelihood of a collision by half.
SpaceX is pausing Falcon 9 launches because of an anomaly. A problem with the deorbit burn of the upper stage on a crewed launch last week prompted the company to halt launches until they understand the root cause of the issue. Both the Hera and Europa Clipper missions are due to launch early this month on SpaceX rockets.