Exoplanets
Exoplanets: Why study them? What are the challenges? What can they teach us about finding life beyond Earth?
Universe Today has explored the importance of studying impact craters and planetary surfaces and what these scientific disciplines can teach…
What Could the Extremely Large Telescope See at Proxima Centauri's Planet?
Astronomers discovered a rocky exoplanet in the habitable zone of Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun. Could there…
Is K2-18b Covered in Oceans of Water or Oceans of Lava?
In the search for potentially life-supporting exoplanets, liquid water is the key indicator. Life on Earth requires liquid water, and…
A Hot Jupiter With a Comet-Like Tail
About 164 light-years away, a Hot Jupiter orbits its star so closely that it takes fewer than four days to…
Big Planets Don’t Necessarily Mean Big Moons
Does the size of an exomoon help determine if life could form on an exoplanet it’s orbiting? This is something…
Half of this Exoplanet is Covered in Lava
Astronomers working with TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) have discovered a planet that's been left out in the Sun too…
Hubble Watches an Exoplanet Atmosphere Change Over Three Years
If you want to know more about an exoplanet atmosphere, watch how it changes over time. That's the mantra of…
GJ 367b is Another Dead World Orbiting a Red Dwarf
Red dwarf exoplanet habitability is a hot topic in space science. These small dim stars host lots of exoplanets, including…
Want to Find Life? See What's Missing in an Atmosphere
In the search for life, astrobiologists have proposed that various chemicals, like methane, could be potential biosignatures. But a new…
Astronomers Test an Exoplanet Instrument on Jupiter
The European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) has a high-resolution spectrograph called ESPRESSO, designed specifically to detecting and characterize…