Extrasolar Planets
Biggest Exoplanet Yet Orbits the Wrong Way
[/caption] Planet hunters from the UK have discovered the largest exoplanet yet, and its uniqueness doesn't end there. Dubbed WASP-17,…
Kepler Scores its First Exoplanet Sighting
[/caption] NASA researchers have published confirmation this week that the Kepler mission will be able to reveal the presence of…
Exoplanet Has Oddball Orbit
[/caption] In what might be a evidence of planetary billiards, astronomers have found an exoplanet with an extremely odd orbit.…
Life on Earth — and Other Worlds — Could Last Longer Than Expected
[/caption] Most scientists predict that in about a billion years, the sun's ever-increasing radiation will have scorched the Earth beyond…
Add Heat, Then Tectonics: Narrowing the Hunt for Life in Space
In order to support life, an exoplanet should simply hang out where heat from its star is just right for liquid…
Planet-Forming Disk Discovered Orbiting Binary System
[/caption] Science fiction is lousy with examples of planets that orbit a system of two suns. Tatooine, in the Star…
First Extra-Galactic Planet May Have Been Detected
[/caption] Using a technique called Pixel-lensing, a group of astronomers in Italy may have detected a planet orbiting another star.…
Astrometry Finally Finds an Exoplanet
[/caption] Using the method of astrometry to find planets orbiting other stars has been around for 50 years, and until…
New Technique Could Find Another “Pale Blue Dot”
[/caption] By looking back at Earth from alien's point of view, scientists have developed a new technique to look for…
On Your Mark, Get Set, Let’s Find Planets!
[/caption] The checkout and calibration phase for the Kepler spacecraft has been completed, and now the telescope will begin one…