exoplanets
Your Umbrella is Insufficient on a Planet Where it Rains Iron
Imagine a planet where it rained iron. Sounds impossible. But on one distant exoplanet, which is tidally locked to its…
Gas and Dust Stop Planets From Eating Their Moons
A team of Japanese researchers have created a new model for moon formation that explains how planets like Saturn end…
WFIRST Passes an Important Milestone, it’s Time to Begin Development and Testing
Soon, astronomers and astrophysicists will have more observing power than they know what to do with. Not only will the…
Are Low Density “Cotton Candy” Exoplanets Actually Just Regular Planets With Rings?
There's a type of exoplanet that astronomers sometimes refer to as cotton candy planets, or super-puffs. They're mysterious, because their…
Detecting Exoplanets Through Their Exoauroras
A team of scientists from the Netherlands have proposed an exciting new approach for finding exoplanets: look for signs of…
Here are the First Pictures from CHEOPS
The CHEOPS spacecraft is taking the first tentative steps in its mission. Back on January 29th, the spacecraft opened the…
CHEOPS Just Opened Its Eyes to Start Studying Known Exoplanets, We Should See the First Picture in a Few Weeks
The CHEOPS (CHaracterising ExOPlanets Satellite) spacecraft just opened the cover on its telescope. The spacecraft was launched on December 18th 2019 and…
Here’s What the Climate Might Look Like on Proxima Centauri B
NASA scientists have run simulations that show what the climate on Proxima b might be like, with encouraging results!
TESS Finds a Planet That Orbits Two Stars
Researchers working with data from NASA's TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) have a found a planet that orbits two stars.…
TESS Finds its First Earth-Sized World in the Habitable Zone of a Star
NASA's TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) has found its first Earth-sized planet located in the habitable zone of its host…