Exoplanets

A Neptune-class exoplanet has been found with its atmosphere stripped away

What happens when a giant planet gets stripped of its atmosphere? It leaves behind a giant core, rich in iron…

4 years ago

Deep Down in Ocean Worlds, it’s Difficult to Tell Where the Oceans End and the Rock Begins

We all know what water is. And what rock is. The difference is crystal clear. Well, here on Earth it…

4 years ago

Another Collection of Newly Forming Planetary Systems. This Time from the Gemini Planet Imager

Over the next decade, several very powerful telescopes will come online. Observing time on these 'scopes will be in high…

4 years ago

Astronomers Estimate There Are 6 Billion Earth-Like Planets in the Milky Way

Six billion Earth-like planets in the Milky Way? If true, that's astounding. But the number needs some context. The Milky…

5 years ago

Newborn Exoplanets can be Completely Stripped of Their Atmosphere by Stars

Newborn exoplanets can have a tough life. They may form an atmosphere, but that atmosphere can be doomed. Their stars…

5 years ago

It Should Be Easiest to Search for Young Earth-like Planets When They’re Completely Covered in Magma

How did Earth evolve from an ocean of magma to the vibrant, life-supporting, blue jewel it is now? In its…

5 years ago

Astronomers Have Found the Star/Exoplanet Combo That’s the Best Twin to the Sun/Earth

At times, it seems like there's an indundation of announcements featuring discoveries of "Earth-like" planets. And while those announcements are…

5 years ago

Powerful Telescope Confirms There’s an Earth-Sized World Orbiting Proxima Centauri

There is an Earth-sized planet only four light years from Earth. Whether it has life is yet to be known.

5 years ago

Extremely Hot Exoplanets Can Have Extreme Weather, Like Clouds of Aluminum Oxide and Titanium Rain

Thanks to the success of the Kepler mission, we know that there are multitudes of exoplanets of a type called…

5 years ago

This is an Actual Image of a Planet-Forming Disc in a Distant Star System

In 2017, astronomers used ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array) to look at the star AB Aurigae. It's a type of…

5 years ago