exoplanets
New Exoplanet-Hunting Mission to launch in 2017
Move over Kepler. NASA has recently green-lighted two new missions as part of its Astrophysics Explorer Program. These come as…
Closest Exoplanet Deserves a ‘Real’ Name, Says Uwingu
It’s time to “get real” about naming exoplanets, says Uwingu CEO and scientist Dr. Alan Stern. And so the latest…
Could There be 100 Billion Potentially Habitable Planets in the Galaxy?
As we’ve reported recently, the likelihood of findings habitable Earth-sized worlds just seems to keep getting better and better. But…
Habitable Earth-Like Exoplanets Might Be Closer Than We Think
Size might matter when it comes to stars having habitable environments for planets, and in this case smaller might be…
Kepler’s Weirdest Exoplanets
Captain Kirk has nothing on the "strange new worlds" the Kepler space telescope has found. NASA's planet-probing orbiting observatory launched…
Why Dying Stars Might be a Good Place to Look for Life
We’ve currently found 867 different exoplanets, but have yet to definitely determine if one of those harbors life. How will…
Narrowing Down the Hunt for Giant Exoplanets
Despite advances in exoplanet research over the past decade much remains unknown. For example, how do the detection rates of giant…
Earthlike Exoplanets Are All Around Us
Artist's impression of a rocky planet orbiting a red dwarf. Credit: David A. Aguilar (CfA) We may literally be surrounded by…
A Moon With Two Suns: Making Art from Science
A view of Kepler 47c and binary stars. ©Digital Drew. All rights reserved. What would it look like on a…
Exciting Potential for Habitable ExoMoons
Imagine moons like Europa or Enceladus that are orbiting distant gas giant exoplanets located in the habitable zone of their…