New Innovative System Evaluates the Habitability of Distant Planets
A computerized system categorizes planet atmospheres and determines which are viable for future settlement by humans. The climate crisis poses a significant challenge to all…
Exoplanet News
Never-Before-Seen Molecule: Webb Reveals a “Hot Saturn” Exoplanet Atmosphere
New Webb Space Telescope observations of WASP-39 b reveal a never-before-seen molecule in the atmosphere of a planet — sulfur dioxide — among other details….
As Never Seen Before: NASA’s Webb Reveals an Exoplanet Unlike Any in Our Solar System
Observations of Exoplanet WASP-39b show fingerprints of atoms and molecules, as well as signs of active chemistry and clouds. WASP-39 b is a planet unlike…
Earth-Like Exoplanets May Be More Common Than Previously Thought
A day at the beach for life on other planets. According to new simulations, fully Earth-like exoplanets with oceans and continents, as well as beaches…
“Marshmallow” World Discovered: Giant Fluffy Planet Orbiting a Cool Red Dwarf Star
Kitt Peak National Observatory telescope helps determines that Jupiter-like Planet is the lowest-density gas giant ever detected around a red dwarf. A gas giant exoplanet…
“Puzzling and Counterintuitive” Discovery: Heaviest Element Ever Found in an Exoplanet Atmosphere
Astronomers have discovered the heaviest element ever found in an exoplanet atmosphere — barium. They were surprised to discover barium at high altitudes in the…
Ultra-Hot “Super-Earth” Exoplanet 65 Light-Years Away Could Have No Atmosphere
GJ 1252 b is a rocky, terrestrial “super-Earth” that was discovered in 2020. Astronomers have given the exoplanet a closer look and found that it…
Discovery of Laughing Gas in Space Could Mean Alien Life
Exoplanet hunters should check for nitrous oxide — a possible biosignature. Something is missing from the typical roster of chemicals that astrobiologists use to search…
Super-Earth Found Near the Habitable Zone of Red Dwarf
A new super-Earth planet was found 37 light years from Earth. Only 37 light-years from Earth, a super-Earth planet has been discovered close to a…
Planetary Heist: Astronomers Discover That Stars Can Steal Planets
Researchers at the University of Sheffield have proposed a new origin for Jupiter-like planets orbiting massive stars three times the mass of our Sun. According…
Astronomers Uncover New Evidence of Baby Planet in the Making
A new technique has been developed by astronomers to identify small planets hidden in protoplanetary disks. According to astronomers and astrophysicists, planets are born in…
MIT Warns: Astronomers Risk Misinterpreting Planetary Signals in Webb Space Telescope Data
Refining current opacity models will be key to extracting details of exoplanet properties — and signs of life — in data from the powerful new…
Surprise Finding: “Water Worlds” May Be More Common Than We Thought
New analysis finds evidence for many exoplanets made of water and rock around small stars. Water is the one thing all life on Earth requires….
Astronomers Discover Two “Super-Earth” Planets About 100 Light-Years Away
Astronomers Discover Two New Temperate Rocky Worlds An international research team has just announced the discovery of two “super-Earth” planets orbiting LP 890-9, a small,…
Astronomers Produce First Full 3D View of Binary Star-Planet System
Astronomers have discovered a Jupiter-like planet orbiting a nearby star, which is one of a binary pair, by precisely tracing a small, almost imperceptible, wobble…
“Space Treasure” – Webb Captures Its First-Ever Direct Image of a Distant World
For the first time ever, astronomers used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to take a direct image of a planet outside our solar system. The…
Water World: Astronomers Discover an Extrasolar World That May Be Entirely Covered in a Deep Ocean
With the help of instruments designed partly in Canada, a team of astronomers has discovered an exoplanet that could be completely covered in water. An…
Webb Space Telescope Detects Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere of an Exoplanet
NASA’s Webb ushers in a new era of exoplanet science with the first unequivocal detection of carbon dioxide in a planetary atmosphere outside our solar…
