Extrasolar Planets
Two Hot New Planets Discovered
An international team of astronomers have turned up two new Jupiter-sized planets orbiting distant stars. These planets are incredibly close…
Podcast: In Search of Other Worlds
Look down at your feet. There - you're looking at a planet. Now look into the night sky and you…
Brown Dwarf Discovered in Planetary System
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has directly imaged a small brown dwarf star orbiting a larger star - the first time…
Huge, Lightweight Planet Discovered
A new, lightweight planet has been discovered orbiting a star 450 light-years away in the constellation Lacerta. This unusual planet…
Identifying Planets with Life
Telescope technology is advancing quickly, as larger and larger instruments are getting built. Eventually, an observatory will be built capable…
Network of Small Telescopes Find a Big Planet
A network of amateur astronomers has discovered an extrasolar planet located 500 light years away. This incredible discovery was made…
Earth-Sized Planets are Probably Common
Of the many extrasolar planetary systems discovered so far, more than a third could contain Earth-like planets. This is according…
Giant Planet or Failed Star?
The Hubble Space Telescope has helped astronomers uncover an object right at the dividing line between stars and planets. The…
Astrophoto: Stellar Nursery NGC 7129 by Bob Allevo
Prior to 1957, virtually all photographs of the sky were produced as monochrome, black and white images. In that year,…
Hubble Finds an Exoplanet’s Parent Star
When a star flared briefly, astronomers knew it was because a dimmer star had passed directly in front, acting as…