# News [Courses by SSP Researchers](/classes) Sort & Filters close ## Filters Publish Date expand\_more 2016 (10) Search Within Results Search Within Results search ## 10 results Show filters filter\_alt Sort by NewestOldestAlphabetical A-ZAlphabetical Z-APublish Date (DESC)Publish Date (ASC) sort list grid\_view ## 10 results [### Ceres Bright Spot is Salty ](http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/ceres-bright-spot-is-salty-3006201623/) June 30, 2016 Spectral observations by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft reveal that the dwarf planet’s mysterious beacon is made of salt. A patchwork of bright splashes inside Occator Crater on Ceres continues to puzzle planetary scientists. NASA's Dawn spacecraft recorded this... ![Occator-crater-on-Ceres-PIA19996-203x190.jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum9061/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/Occator-crater-on-Ceres-PIA19996-203x190_0.jpg?itok=J07UgnI3) [### Tour July’s Sky: Planets on Parade ](http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/astronomy-podcast-for-july-2016/) June 30, 2016 Sky & Telescope's astronomy podcast takes you on a guided tour of the night sky. In early evening look for Jupiter in the southwest, with Mars and Saturn embedded in Scorpius toward south. For us northerners, July is a time of long, hot days. Yet on July... ![Mars-Saturn-Antares-July-2016.jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum9061/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/Mars-Saturn-Antares-July-2016_0.jpg?itok=XA8TKNjz) [### Newfound Object 2016 HO3 Shares Earth’s Orbit ](http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/2016-ho3-a-new-minimoon-for-the-earth/) June 24, 2016 A recently discovered asteroid plays leapfrog with Earth as they both orbit around the Sun. The strange orbit of Apollo asteroid 2016 HO 3. (Click to see bigger image.) NASA / JPL-Caltech Our fair planet has a tiny companion, an asteroid that shares our... ![asteroid20160615-16.jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum9061/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/asteroid20160615-16_0.jpg?itok=pjPfV4jH) [### How planetary age reveals water content ](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/06/160629100343.htm) June 29, 2016 Water is necessary for life as we know it, but too much water is bad for habitability. Therefore, to study the habitability of extrasolar planets, determining the abundance of water is a key element. Astronomers now show that the observation of exoplanets... description [### What happens when you steam a planet? ](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/06/160628072819.htm) June 28, 2016 Numerical models show hot, rocky exoplanets can change their chemistry by vaporizing rock-forming elements in steam atmospheres that are then partially lost to space. description [### Moon discovered over dwarf planet Makemake in the Kuiper Belt ](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/06/160627214421.htm) June 28, 2016 Scientists have discovered an elusive, dark moon orbiting Makemake, one of the 'big four' dwarf planets populating the Kuiper Belt region at the edge of our solar system. description [### When it comes to brown dwarfs, 'how far?' is a key question ](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/06/160627125138.htm) June 27, 2016 Brown dwarfs are sometimes called failed stars. They're stars' dim, low-mass siblings and they fade in brightness over time. They're fascinating to astronomers for a variety of reasons, but much about them remains unknown. New work reports the distances... description [### Fastest-spinning brown-dwarf star is detected by its bursts of radio waves ](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/06/160627095023.htm) June 27, 2016 Astronomers have detected what may be the most rapidly rotating, ultra-cool, brown-dwarf star ever seen. The super-fast rotation period was measured by using the 305-meter Arecibo radio telescope -- the same telescope that was used to discover the first... description [### Newborn giant planet grazes its star ](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/06/160620112508.htm) June 20, 2016 For the past 20 years, exoplanets known as 'hot Jupiters' have puzzled astronomers. These giant planets orbit 100 times closer to their host stars than Jupiter does to the Sun, which increases their surface temperatures. But how and when in their history... description [### NASA's K2 finds newborn exoplanet around young star ](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/06/160620111330.htm) June 20, 2016 Astronomers have discovered the youngest fully formed exoplanet ever detected. The newfound planet, K2-33b, is a bit larger than Neptune and whips tightly around its star every five days. It is only 5 to 10 million years old, making it one of a very few... description