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…
Exoplanet
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…
Astronomers Conduct First Atmospheric Survey of Earth-Sized Planets Orbiting TRAPPIST-1
Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have conducted the first spectroscopic survey of the Earth-sized planets (d, e, f, and g) within the habitable zone…
Quasar Microlensing Reveals Planets in Extragalactic Galaxies
A University of Oklahoma astrophysics team has discovered for the first time a population of planets beyond the Milky Way galaxy. Using microlensing–an astronomical phenomenon…
Simulations Show Planetary Bodies May Have Extremely Low-Density Surfaces
Spacecraft landing on Jupiter’s moon Europa could see the craft sink due to high surface porosity, research by Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Robert Nelson…
Unexpected Discovery Challenges Scientists’ Understanding of Exoplanets
The hottest point on a gaseous planet near a distant star isn’t where astrophysicists expected it to be – a discovery that challenges scientists’ understanding…
New NASA Research Shows Disk Patterns Around Stars Can Self-Generate
When scientists searching for exoplanets — worlds located beyond our solar system — first spotted patterns in disks of dust and gas around young stars,…
Orbital Misalignment of Neptune-Mass Exoplanet GJ436b
In the collective imagination, planets of a solar system all circle around their star, in the same plane that is also the equatorial plane of…
Astronomers Discover Eighth Planet Circling Kepler-90
The discovery of an eighth planet circling the distant star Kepler-90 by University of Texas at Austin astronomer Andrew Vanderburg and Google’s Christopher Shallue overturns…
MAVEN Mission Sheds Light on Habitability of Distant Planets
How long might a rocky, Mars-like planet be habitable if it were orbiting a red dwarf star? It’s a complex question but one that NASA’s…
A Cross-Disciplinary Approach is Essential to Finding Life on Other Worlds
The search for life beyond Earth is riding a surge of creativity and innovation. Following a gold rush of exoplanet discovery over the past two…
Astrobiologists Show How a ‘Methane Blanket’ Can Keep an Exoplanet Warm
Somewhere in our galaxy, an exoplanet is probably orbiting a star that’s colder than our sun, but instead of freezing solid, the planet might be…
Yale Researchers ‘Look’ Deep Inside a Diamond Planet
New research by Yale University scientists suggests rocky planets orbiting other stars may hide thick layers of diamond beneath the surface. “A carbon-rich planet likely…
Research Shows K2-18b Could be a Scaled-Up Version of Earth
New research using data collected by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) has revealed that a little-known exoplanet called K2-18b could well be a scaled-up version…
Astronomers Reveal That WASP-18b Has Smothering Stratosphere Without Water
A NASA-led team has found evidence that the oversized planet WASP-18b is wrapped in a smothering stratosphere loaded with carbon monoxide and devoid of water….
Simulations Shows Traces of Life on Nearest Exoplanets May Be Hidden
New research published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society shows that the search for life on other planets may well be…
Newly Discovered Planets Could Solve Exoplanet Mystery
Since astronomers first measured the size of an extrasolar planet seventeen years ago, they have struggled to answer the question: how did the largest planets…
Spitzer Makes a Case for an Atmosphere on Super-Earth 55 Cancri e
Spitzer reveals that super-Earth 55 Cancri e likely has an atmosphere whose ingredients could be similar to those of Earth’s atmosphere, but thicker. Twice as…