exoplanets
Do Hot Jupiters Form Close in, or Do They Migrate? A Newly-Discovered Planet Might Help Answer This
The recent discovery of a very young gas giant could offer clues about how "Hot Jupiters" form and whether or…
Deep Down in Ocean Worlds, it’s Difficult to Tell Where the Oceans End and the Rock Begins
We all know what water is. And what rock is. The difference is crystal clear. Well, here on Earth it…
Another Collection of Newly Forming Planetary Systems. This Time from the Gemini Planet Imager
Over the next decade, several very powerful telescopes will come online. Observing time on these 'scopes will be in high…
Calculate the Number of Alien Civilizations in the Milky Way for Yourself.
A new online tool created by a team of physicists allows users to calculate how many alien civilization could be…
Planets Form in Just a Few Hundred Thousand Years
Astronomers like to observe young planets forming in circumstellar debris disks, the rotating rings of material around young stars. But…
Astronomers Estimate There Are 6 Billion Earth-Like Planets in the Milky Way
Six billion Earth-like planets in the Milky Way? If true, that's astounding. But the number needs some context. The Milky…
Newborn Exoplanets can be Completely Stripped of Their Atmosphere by Stars
Newborn exoplanets can have a tough life. They may form an atmosphere, but that atmosphere can be doomed. Their stars…
Tiny Cubesat Detects an Exoplanet
A team of MIT researchers have observed a Super-Earth using a CubeSat, making it the smallest satellite to study an…
It Should Be Easiest to Search for Young Earth-like Planets When They’re Completely Covered in Magma
How did Earth evolve from an ocean of magma to the vibrant, life-supporting, blue jewel it is now? In its…
Is the Concept of a Habitable Zone Too Wide?
Exoplanets are often considered potentially habitable if they could have liquid water. But the necessities of biology set the habitability…