“At Christmas, we recall that God is one who tells us he’s there, shows us what he’s like, and accompanies us as we journey - even through the darkest and loneliest valleys of life.”
Two Planets Discovered Sharing the Same Orbit
In a cosmic first, the Kepler telescope has discovered two planets sharing the same orbit. There is a theory that says our moon was created when a body sharing our orbit crashed into Earth, but up until now no one had found evidence of co-orbiting planets elsewhere in the universe.
It is possible that such a phenomenon could occur when matter around a newborn star forms into planets. In a planet’s orbit around a star, there are two places where a third body can safely orbit. These spots, known as Lagrange points, are 120 degrees in front of and behind whichever body is smaller. The discovered co-orbiting planets, located in the four-planet system KOI-730, are always 120 degrees apart, permanent fixtures in each others’ night skies.
Saturn’s Rings May Be Remains of Ripped-Apart Moon
Saturn’s famous rings are the last remaining shards of a huge moon the planet tore apart long ago, a new study suggests.
A moon about the size of Titan — Saturn’s largest satellite — likely spiraled into the giant planet about 4.5 billion years ago, scientists think. As it made its way, Saturn’s powerful gravity stripped off the doomed moon’s icy outer layers, thus spawning the planet’s magnificent rings, according to the research.
