Extrasolar Planets
Exoplanet Not Really There?
This artist's concept shows the smallest star known to host a planet. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech In May 2009, astronomers were…
Cool – Literally – Extrasolar Planet Imaged
Yet another planet outside of our Solar System has been directly imaged, bumping the list up past ten. Given that…
The Extremely Large Telescope
The European Southern Observatory (ESO) is planning on building a massive - and I do mean massive - telescope in…
Second Exoplanet with Retrograde Orbit Discovered
The exoplanet HAT-P-7b has been observed to have a very curious orbit. It either has a highly tilted orbit -…
Shedding Light on the Sun’s “Lithium Mystery”
For decades, astronomers have known our Sun contains a low amount of lithium, while other solar-like stars actually have more.…
Multi-Planet System is Chaotic, Dusty
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope captured this infrared image of a giant halo of very fine dust around the young star…
No Earth-Sized Planet Hunting for Kepler Until 2011
[/caption] A glitch in the Kepler spacecraft's electronics means the space telescope will not have the ability to spot an…
Organic Molecules Detected in Exoplanet Atmosphere
[/caption] The basic chemistry for life has been detected the atmosphere of a second hot gas planet, HD 209458b. Data…
HARPS Discovers 32 New Exoplanets
[/caption] Astronomers have found 32 new planets outside our solar system with the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher, better…
Rocky World COROT-7b Rains Rocks
[/caption] If any creature lives on COROT-7b, the recently confirmed rocky exoplanet, they might think the sky is falling. This…