Astronomers Measure the Length of an Exoplanet Day
Using data from ESO’s Very Large Telescope, astronomers have measured the length of an exoplanet day for the first time, revealing that a day on…
Exoplanet News
Astrophysicists Examine Orbit Flips in Exoplanet Systems
Astrophysicists from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics examine orbit flips in exoplanet systems, presenting a previously unidentified mechanism whereby such interactions can completely flip the…
Kepler Discovers Earth-Size Planet Orbiting a Star in the ‘Habitable Zone’
Astronomers have discovered the first Earth-size planet orbiting a star in the “habitable zone,” confirming that Earth-size planets exist in the habitable zones of other…
New Modeling Reveals that Tilted Orbits Could Make More Worlds Habitable
New research from astrobiologists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center reveals that large amplitude, high frequency obliquity oscillations on Earth-like exoplanets can suppress the ice-albedo…
Flower-Shaped Starshade Spacecraft to Acquire Images of Earth-Like Planets
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is developing a spacecraft, which looks like a giant sunflower, to acquire images of Earth-like rocky planets around nearby stars. This…
Astronomers Probe the Transition Disk Around Sz 91
CfA astronomers used the Submillimeter Array to probe the transition disk around Sz 91, finding find that it is more like a ring than a…
SETI Scientist Believes We Will Find Life in Space This Century
The senior astronomer at the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence Institute believes that researchers will find life in space in this century. Are we alone in…
Habitable Zones Near Red Dwarf Stars Smaller than Previously Thought
A newly published study reveals that habitable zones near red dwarf stars may be smaller than previously thought. The researchers believe that the exoplanets orbiting…
Researchers Take an Important Step Toward Discovering Habitable Earths
Using essentially the same type of imaging sensor found in digital cameras, astronomers have captured images of a planet outside our solar system for the…
Astronomers Develop New Method of Gauging the Atmospheric Pressure of Exoplanets
With the aid of computer simulations of the chemistry of Earth’s own atmosphere that isolate what are called “dimer molecules,” astronomers developed a new method…
Study Identifies Three New Habitable-Zone Super-Earths
An international team of astronomers has discovered eight new planets orbiting nearby red dwarf stars, three of which are classified as habitable-zone super-Earths. The study…
Study Reveals It’s Almost Impossible for Life to Exist on ‘Super-Earths’
A newly published study reveals that many of the super-Earth planets discovered in the last twenty years may have captured the equivalent of between 100…
NASA’s Kepler Mission Announces 715 New Worlds
Using a technique called verification by multiplicity, astronomers discovered 715 new planets from Kepler data. NASA’s Kepler mission announced Wednesday the discovery of 715 new…
New Infrared Technique Detects Water in the Atmosphere of a Planet Outside Our Solar System
Using a new infrared technique, astronomers have detected water in the atmosphere of tau Boötes b, a hot-Jupiter planet outside our solar system. Water has…
New Research Reveals How Circumbinary Planets Form
New research from the University of Bristol reveals how circumbinary planets form. Like the fictional Star Wars planet, Kepler-34(AB)b is a circumbinary planet, so-called because…
Kepler Reveals a New Neptune-Size Exoplanet
Data from Kepler has revealed a new Neptune-size exoplanet that is located in orbit around a star in a double-star system 425 light years from…
HARPS Discovers First Exoplanet Orbiting a Solar Twin in a Star Cluster
Using the HARPS planet-finding instrument on ESO’s 3.6-meter telescope, astronomers have discovered three exoplanets orbiting stars in the cluster Messier 67 and one of the…
“Super-Earths” May be More Earth-Like than Previously Thought
A newly published study reveals that the odds of Super-Earth exoplanets having an Earth-like climate are much greater than previously thought. Massive terrestrial planets, called…
