exoplanets
Which Stars are Lethal to their Planets?
Many years ago, there was a viral YouTube video called "History of the entire world, i guess," which has been…
Instead of Losing its Atmosphere, an Exoplanet Puffed Up and Held Onto it
To date, astronomers have confirmed the existence of 5638 extrasolar planets in 4,199 star systems. In the process, scientists have…
Suppressing Starlight: How to Find Other Earths
One underappreciated aspect of the current flood of exoplanet discoveries is the technical marvels that enable it. Scientists and engineers…
A Mini-Neptune in the Habitable Zone in a Binary Star System
Sometimes, it seems like habitable worlds can pop up almost anywhere in the universe. A recent paper from a team…
A New Venus-Sized World Found in the Habitable Zone of its Star
The parade of interesting new exoplanets continues. Today, NASA issued a press release announcing the discovery of a new exoplanet…
Astronomers Discover the Second-Lightest “Cotton Candy” Exoplanet to Date.
The hunt for extrasolar planets has revealed some truly interesting candidates, not the least of which are planets known as…
What Deadly Venus Can Tell Us About Life on Other Worlds
Even though Venus and Earth are so-called sister planets, they're as different as heaven and hell. Earth is a natural…
JWST Uses “Interferometry Mode” to Reveal Two Protoplanets Around a Young Star
The JWST is flexing its muscles with its interferometry mode. Researchers used it to study a well-known extrasolar system called…
Purple Bacteria — Not Green Plants — Might Be the Strongest Indication of Life
Astrobiologists continue to work towards determining which biosignatures might be best to look for when searching for life on other…
Will We Know if TRAPPIST-1e has Life?
The search for extrasolar planets is currently undergoing a seismic shift. With the deployment of the Kepler Space Telescope and…