Scientists Report Discovery of Nearly 80 New Planetary Candidates
Scientists at MIT and elsewhere have analyzed data from K2, the follow-up mission to NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope, and have discovered a trove of possible…
Exoplanet
Astronomers Hunt Molecules in the Search for New Planets
Each exoplanet revolves around a star, like the Earth around the Sun. This is why it is generally impossible to obtain images of an exoplanet,…
KPS-1b: First Transiting Exoplanet Discovered Using Amateur Data
One of the candidates previously found by the Kourovka Planet Search (KPS) project turned out to be the so-called hot Jupiter. The exoplanet, known as…
Helium Discovered in the Eroding Atmosphere of an Exoplanet
Helium is the second most abundant element in the universe, after hydrogen, and is a major constituent of the gas-giant planets in our Solar System….
Atmospheric Seasonal Changes Could Signal Alien Life on Exoplanets
UCR researchers are using seasonal changes in the Earth’s atmosphere to guide their search for life outside the solar system. Dozens of potentially habitable planets…
Astronomers Discover a Cloud-Free ‘Hot Saturn’ Exoplanet, WASP-96b
Scientists have detected an exoplanet atmosphere that is free of clouds, marking a pivotal breakthrough in the quest for greater understanding of the planets beyond…
Hubble Detects Helium in the Atmosphere of Exoplanet WASP-107b
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have detected helium in the atmosphere of the exoplanet WASP-107b. This is the first time this element has…
Astronomers Simulate Conditions Inside ‘Super-Earths’
By aiming intense X-ray beams at iron samples, scientists have studied the cores of “super-Earth” planets triple the size of Earth. The team, led by…
Chemical Models Help Astronomers Study the Atmospheres of Hot Exoplanets
Chemical models developed to help limit the emission of pollutants by car engines are being used to study the atmospheres of hot exoplanets orbiting close…
Scientists Discover Earth-Sized Planet With Dayside Temperature of Over 2000°C
A hot, metallic, Earth-sized planet with a density similar to Mercury – situated 339 light years away – has been detected and characterized by a…
TRAPPIST-1 Exoplanets Reveal Clues About Habitable Worlds
TRAPPIST-1 is an ultra-cool red dwarf star that is slightly larger, but much more massive, than the planet Jupiter, located about 40 light-years from the…
Astronomers Confirm the Existence of 15 New Exoplanets, Including One Super-Earth
Scientists report the existence of 15 new planets — including one ‘super-Earth’ that could harbor liquid water — orbiting small, cool stars near our solar…
Scientists Discover a Large Amount of Water in an Exoplanet’s Atmosphere
Much like detectives study fingerprints to identify the culprit, scientists used NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes to find the “fingerprints” of water in the…
Outbursts From Supermassive Black Hole Transform Exoplanets
A team of astrophysicists and planetary scientists has predicted that Neptune-like planets located near the center of the Milky Way galaxy have been transformed into…
Saturn-Like Planet Raises Fascinating Questions About Planet Formation
Nestled in the young Ophiuchus star-forming region, 410 light-years from the Sun, a fascinating protoplanetary disc named AS 209 is slowly being carved into shape….
Astronomers Discover 95 New Exoplanets Using Kepler
“We started out analyzing 275 candidates of which 149 were validated as real exoplanets. In turn 95 of these planets have proved to be new…
Astronomers Unlock the Mysteries of Super-Earths
A star about 100 light years away in the Pisces constellation, GJ 9827, hosts what may be one of the most massive and dense super-Earth…
TRAPPIST-1 Exoplanets Potentially Hold More Water Than Earth
A new study has found that the seven planets orbiting the nearby ultra-cool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1 are all made mostly of rock, and some could…