Extrasolar Planets
Water Vapour Raining Down on a Planetary Disk
Ever wonder how the Earth got its oceans? Well, new data gathered by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope could provide a…
Dead Star Found Polluted By Earthlike Planet
Astronomers have found a burned out white dwarf star with the remants of an Earthlike planet orbiting it. This chemical…
Large, Fluffy Planet Darkens a Distant Star
An international team of astronomers announced today that they have discovered the largest extrasolar planet; it's 70% larger than Jupiter.…
Imagine a View with Four Sunsets
Here in the Solar System, we've only got one star: the Sun. That gives us nice predictable daily and annual…
Lopsided Disk Around a Young Star
If you look at drawings of our Solar System, you'll notice all the planets are lined up nicely in a…
Large Outer Planets are Rare
One of the big surprises the Universe had in store for extrasolar planet hunters is the number of enormous planets…
If There’s Oxygen, There’s Life
If aliens visited our Solar System, it would only take them a moment to figure out which planet is the…
Water Vapour Discovered in an Extrasolar Planet
Scientists have reported the first conclusive evidence of water vapour in the atmosphere of an extrasolar planet. Before we load…
Imagining Plants on another Planet
If and when astronomers finally start discovering life on other worlds, they'll be wondering what kinds of lifeforms are there.…
Hidden Planet Disturbs a Ring of Dust
You can't see it, but there's a Neptune-sized planet hidden in a ring of dust around the star Fomalhaut. At…