The First Remote Reconnaissance of Another Solar System
A team of astronomers have conducted the first remote reconnaissance of another solar system, collecting the first chemical fingerprints of this system’s four red exoplanets,…
Exoplanet News
Kepler Finds Over 2,300 Candidate Exoplanets
In a newly released study, researchers state that the Kepler spacecraft has found over 2,300 candidate exoplanets in its observations during the first sixteen months…
The First Direct Observation of a Forming Planet?
While studying the disc of gas and dust that surrounds the young star HD 100546, scientists believe they have detected the formation of a gas…
The Search for Exoplanets Intensifies
Aided by technology, astronomers at the University of Chicago search for far-off planets like Earth. When astronomers discovered planet GJ 1214b circling a star more…
Direct Infrared Image of the Protoplanetary Disk Around a Young Star
Using the high-resolution infrared camera HiCIAO, an international group of astronomers captured the first vivid infrared image of a curved arm of dust extending over…
Earth-like Planets May Have Older and More Evolved Life
Astronomers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics believe that six percent of red dwarf stars have habitable, Earth-sized planets. Since red dwarfs live much longer…
New Insights into How Retrograde Planets May Form and Endure
Astronomers continue to research the HAT-P-7 planetary system, looking for new insights into how retrograde planets may form and endure. Astronomers have used the Subaru…
At Least 100 Billion Planets Populate the Milky Way
By analyzing planets orbiting a star called Kepler-32, astronomers at Caltech estimate that there are at least 100 billion planets in our galaxy. Look up…
A New Subclass of Extra-Solar Planets Discovered
Using the HATNet telescopes, CfA astronomers and colleagues discovered three new hot Jupiters and identified a new subclass of extra-solar planets, dubbed “highly inflated Jupiters.”…
WASP-12 b, A Planet Being Consumed By Its Own Sun
A newly published study takes a closer look at WASP-12 b, a planet that is being consumed by its own star. A planet roughly 1.4…
CNES CoRoT Satellite Suffers Computer Failure
The French space agency CNES has announced that the Convection, Rotation and Planetary Transits (CoRoT) satellite is on its last legs. The satellite suffered a…
New Study Revives Doubted Exoplanet Fomalhaut b
A team of astronomers reanalyzed data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to further examine whether the star Fomalhaut hosts a massive exoplanet, named Fomalhaut b,…
Earth-Sized Exoplanet Discovered in Alpha Centauri System
Astronomers have uncovered a low-mass planet orbiting α Centauri B, a member of the stellar system neighboring our Solar System. Although the exoplanet is nearly…
Volunteer Scientists Aid in Discovery of Four-Star Planet PH1
A team of international astronomers, aided by volunteer scientists using the Planethunters.org website, discovered a circumbinary planet in a four-star system, called PH1. The discovery…
Distant Exoplanets Form Planetary Syzygy Celestial Alignment
Astronomers have discovered that two exoplanets are overlapping in the skies as they cross their star. The phenomenon is new enough that it doesn’t have…
“Habitable Zone” Might Help Extreme Life Forms Survive on Exoplanets
A newly published study examines the “habitable zone” that scientists believe might play a role in the survival of extreme life forms, like lichens and…
Scientists Detected Exoplanetary System With Regularly Aligned Orbits Similar to Our Solar System
Scientists have discovered the first exoplanetary system with regularly aligned orbits similar to those in our solar system. Located at the center of this system…
Smaller Than Earth, Exoplanet Candidate UCF-1.01 Is Just 33 Light-Years Away
Located 33 light-years away, exoplanet candidate UCF-1.01 was discovered when astronomers studying exoplanet GJ 436b noticed slight dips in the amount of infrared light streaming…