Why Build Megastructures? Just Move Planets Around to Make Habitable Worlds
A new study recommends we stop looking for megastructures and start searching for advanced civilizations who have moved multiple planets in their star’s habitable zone.
Chinese Scientists Complete a Concept Study for a 6-Meter Space Telescope to Find Habitable Exoplanets
With JWST safely in space, researchers are designing the next generation of space telescope that could Earth-sized worlds orbiting sunlike stars. Chinese scientists released a concept paper this week for the Tianlin mission, a 6-meter UV/Optical/IR space telescope, which could begin operations in 2045. This telescope would search for rocky planets in the habitable zones around nearby stars and search for biosignatures using direct imaging. The team estimates they could obtain the spectrum of 20 candidate exoplanets in the first five years of operation.
If Rogue Planets are Everywhere, How Could We Explore Them?
A new study estimates there could be hundreds of rogue planets nearby that we could explore for signs of extraterrestrial life!
JWST Sees Newly Forming Planets Swimming in Water
One big question about Earth’s formation is, where did all the water come from? New data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) shows newly forming planets in a system 370 light-years away are surrounded by water vapor in their orbits. Although astronomers have detected water vapor in protoplanetary disks before, this is the first …
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JWST is Powerful Enough to See a Variety of Biosignatures in Exoplanets
According to a new study, JWST is powerful enough to detect the chemicals in the atmospheres of various terrestrial planets and could give a hint if there’s life there.
Moons Orbiting Rogue Planets Could be Habitable
A new study reveals how rogue planets could have “Ocean World” moons that may support life.
A New Mission Will Search for Habitable Planets at Alpha Centauri
The TOLIMAN space telescope will search for exoplanets next door, and has contracted with EnduroSat to make that happen.
Planets Might Protect their Water Until their Star Settles Down
Creating rocky planets is a messy, dangerous, hot business. Planetesimals accrete together, which creates heat and pressure on the newborn world. The nearby adolescent star bombards them with intense radiation. That likely “bakes off” any surface oceans, lakes, or rivers, which is a disaster if you’re looking for places where life might arise or exist. …
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TESS Shows That Even Small Stars Can Host Giant Planets
Can low-mass stars play host to giant, Jupiter-sized planets? Theories of planet formation suggest that it’s highly unlikely. But a team of scientists in the UK found that it’s possible, though rare.
Stars Can Eat Their Planets…and Spit Them Back Out Again
As tragic as it is, engulfment of a planetary object by its stellar parent is a common scenario throughout the universe. But it doesn’t have to end in doom. A team of astrophysicists have used computer simulations to discover that planets can not only survive when their star eats them, but they can also drive …
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