OUR UNIVERSE

Synestias: Vaporized Rock in the Shape of a Blood Cell On May 2017, edition of Journal of Geophysical Research:Planets published by the UC Davis researchers describes a synestia would look like: a "huge, spinning, donut-shaped mass of hot, vaporized rock, formed as planet-sized objects smash into each other," a press release on the paper explains. A synestia would be much larger than a solid planet, and would last for only a short amount of time-from a couple hundred to a couple thousand years. They explain that synestias are essentially part of a late-adolescent phase in planet formation, before the dusjs condense and form planets. This figure shows a rocky planet, a molten disk/ring structure, and a synestia all with the same mass. Image: Simon Lock and Sarah Stewart Earth's Very Own Synestia The findings could shed light on how planets in our own solar system formed, including Earth. While synestias likely don't form during every planet...

On Aug. 21, 2017, people across the United States will see the sun disappear behind the moon, turning daylight into twilight, causing the temperature drop rapidly and revealing massive streamers of light streaking through the sky around the silhouette of the moon. On that day, America will fall under the path of a total solar eclipse. The so-called Great American Total Solar Eclipse will darken skies all the way from Oregon to South Carolina, along a stretch of land about 70 miles (113 kilometers) wide. People who descend upon this "path of totality" for the big event are in for an unforgettable experience. Who Can See It? Lots of people! Everyone in the contiguous United States, in fact, everyone in North America plus parts of South America, Africa, and Europe will see at least a partial solar eclipse, while the thin path of totality will pass through portions of 14 states.   Image Credit: NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio Wh...