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July 31, 2019July 31, 2019

NASA Promised More Smaller, Earth-size Exoplanets. TESS is Delivering.

When NASA launched TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) in 2018, it had a specific goal. While its predecessor, the Kepler spacecraft, found thousands of exoplanets, many of them were massive gas giants. TESS was sent into space with a promise: to find smaller planets similar in size to Earth and Neptune, orbiting stable stars without …

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June 13, 2019June 14, 2019

In Order to Reveal Planets Around Another star, a Starshade Needs to Fly 40,000 km Away from a Telescope, Aligned Within Only 1 Meter

If NASA sends a Starshade into space, it will need to perform some very accurate formation flying with the space telescopes it is working with

June 11, 2019June 11, 2019

New Instrument is Searching for Planets Around Alpha Centauri

Alpha Centauri is the closest star system to us, at 4.37 light-years (about 25 trillion miles) away. In 2016, astronomers discovered an exoplanet orbiting one of the three stars in the Alpha Centauri system. Spurred on by that discovery, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) has developed a new instrument to find any other planets that …

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May 17, 2019May 17, 2019

Small, Tough Planets can Survive the Death of Their Star

Sad fact of the Universe is that all stars will die, eventually. And when they do, what happens to their babies? Usually, the prognosis for the planets around a dying star is not good, but a new study says some might in fact survive. A group of astronomers have taken a closer look at what …

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February 5, 2019February 5, 2019

Two Newly-Discovered Exoplanets are Probably the Result of a Catastrophic Collision

How can two planets so similar in some respects have such different densities? According to a new study, a catastrophic collision may be to blame. In our Solar System, all the inner planets are small rocky worlds with similar densities, while the outer planets are gas giants with their own similar densities. But not all …

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January 14, 2019January 14, 2019

Habitable Planets Around Red Dwarf Stars Might not get Enough Photons to Support Plant Life

A new study shows that planets orbiting red dwarf stars may not get enough radiation to support photosynthesis.

January 10, 2019January 10, 2019

Bad News. Planets Orbiting Red Dwarfs Might not have the Raw Materials for Life

New research from the Hubble Space Telescope and the ESO’s Very Large Telescope is dampening some of the enthusiasm in the search for life. Observations by both ‘scopes suggest that the raw materials necessary for life may be rare in solar systems centered around red dwarfs. And if the raw materials aren’t there, it may …

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December 17, 2018

Here are 20 Protoplanetary Disks, With Newly Forming Planets Carving Out Gaps in the Gas and Dust

A new survey by an ALMA collaboration has resulted in stunning images of 20 nearby protoplanetary disks, which shows the process of planet formation as it happens.

December 5, 2018

New SPECULOOS Telescope Sees First Light. Soon it’ll be Seeing Habitable Planets Around Ultra-Cool Stars

Our newest planet-hunting telescope is up and running at the ESO’s Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert in Chile. SPECULOOS, which stands for Planets EClipsing ULtra-cOOl Stars, is actually four 1-meter telescopes working together. The first images from the ‘scopes are in, and though it hasn’t found any other Earths yet, the images are still …

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November 5, 2018March 24, 2019

Exoplanets Will Need Both Continents and Oceans to Form Complex Life

A new study from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics indicates that exoplanets with too much water or too much landmass may not be a good place to look for life.