exoplanets
A Technique to Find Oceans on Other Worlds
A new study shows how next-generation observatories could directly observe oceans on exoplanets, which could narrow the search for extraterrestrial…
Astronomers Look at Super-Earths That had Their Atmospheres Stripped Away by Their Stars
A new study examines two rocky exoplanets (TOI-1634b and TOI-1685b) that appear to have been stripped of their atmospheres.
Astronomers Detect Clouds on an Exoplanet, and Even Measure Their Altitude
An international research team shows how combining data from multiple observatories allowed them to detect clouds in the atmosphere of…
A New Way to Search for Exomoons
We'd love to find another planet like Earth. Not exactly like Earth; that's kind of ridiculous and probably a little…
Ground-Based Observatories Could use Starshades to see Planets too
All hail the occulter: an orbiting starshade for ground-based telescopes. (more…)
Ocean Worlds With Hydrogen-Rich Atmospheres Could be the Perfect Spots for Life
A new study has identified another class of exoplanet that could drastically increase the odds of finding life beyond the…
Rocky Planet Found With Only Half the Mass of Venus
When it comes to finding exoplanets, size matters, but so does weight. The larger and heavier the planet, the more…
Astronomers Find a Huge Planet Orbiting its Star at 6,000 Times the Earth-Sun Distance
Tracking exoplanets is hard - especially when that exoplanet is so far away from its parent star that the normally…
This is how you get Tatooines. Binary Star Planet Formation
One of the less appreciated aspects of George Lucas’ vision for Star Wars was that he predicted the existence of…
Incredible! Astronomers see a Moon-Forming Disk Around a Newly Forming Planet
Planetary formation is a complicated, multilayered process. Even with the influx of data on exoplanets, there are still only two…