Exoplanets

Latest about Exoplanets

An artist's illustration of a planet with an evaporating trail of matter running behind it. A giant star is in the background.

Tiny 14-inch satellite studies 'hot Jupiter' exoplanets evaporating into space

By Keith Cooper published

Hot Jupiters are gas giants so close to their star that the star's heat and radiation can blow the planets' atmosphere away.

Exoplanets
A reddish striped planet is seen next to a smaller orb that's blueish. The two objects are set against a dark background representing space.

That’s no moon! Scientists doubt proposed detection of the 1st exomoons

By Robert Lea published

Scientists aren't sure whether humanity really detected moons outside the solar system.

Exoplanets
the top half of a large purple orb raises from the bottom like an eye peering upward, its diameter spanning the bottom of the image, near its top, lighter purple in the shape of an eye, with a red/orange iris and yellow pupil. a small orange/yellow sun hangs above in the center. Illustration shows a massive planet in orbit around a diminutive star.

This 'forbidden' exoplanet is way too massive for its star

By Robert Lea published

"This discovery really drives home the point of just how little we know about the universe. We wouldn’t expect a planet this heavy around such a low-mass star to exist."

Exoplanets
An artist's depiction of a hot Jupiter planet orbiting its star.

Our solar system's planets aren't weird after all. Exoplanets have tilted orbits, too

By Elizabeth Howell published

All solar system planets circle our sun with slightly tilted orbits — and a new study shows even distant planetary systems in quiet neighborhoods have orbital tilts, too.

Exoplanets
an orange star is orbited by six planets, each a different color. their orbits are outlined with white circles

This rare exoplanet system has 6 'sub-Neptunes' with mathematically perfect orbits

By Sharmila Kuthunur published

A newfound, and impressively well-maintained, planetary system full of sub-Neptunes could reveal why our solar system lacks such a world.

Exoplanets
two planets, one blue (farther), one tannish/green (foreground) float in space. a yellow star hangs in the black distance.

Exoplanet 'haze' makes it harder to identify water on alien worlds. Scientists may have a solution

By Conor Feehly published

Planetary scientists simulate how haze might be obstructing our view of exoplanet's atmospheres, and potentially alien water.

Exoplanets
An artist's illustration shows a bright blue planet in the foreground with a yellow, glowing star in the background.

Some exoplanets are shrinking. Here's why

By Sharmila Kuthunur published

Data from NASA's Kepler telescope shows why puffy sub-Neptunes are shrinking to rocky super-Earths.

Exoplanets
exoplanet animation of a world orbiting a star

Exoplanets: Everything you need to know about the worlds beyond our solar system

By Robert Lea last updated

Reference Exoplanets are worlds that orbit stars other than the sun. Since their discovery in the 1990s, these alien planets have been revealing that the universe is a diverse place.

Reference
dinosaurs being dinosaurs

Detecting alien life might be easier if we hunt for 'Jurassic worlds.' Here's why

By Sharmila Kuthunur published

"If they're out there, this analysis lets us figure out where they could be living."

Exoplanets
Color illustration of a rocky planet on the left and a portion of a much-larger star on the right. About three-quarters of the lit side of the planet is visible; the other quarter is in shadow. The surface of the planet has gray, orange, and yellow mottling. Most of the orange and yellow is in the region that is facing the star directly. The grayer portions are toward the poles and shadowed side of the planet. The edge of the disc of the planet appears to be glowing, suggesting a thin atmosphere. The star is bright orange-yellow, with a turbulent appearance similar to the Sun.

NASA's exoplanet-hunting telescope spies 8 'super-Earths'

By Conor Feehly published

Astronomers using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) have identified eight new super-Earths that orbit close to their host stars.

Exoplanets
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