Kepler mission
Exoplanets: Why study them? What are the challenges? What can they teach us about finding life beyond Earth?
Universe Today has explored the importance of studying impact craters and planetary surfaces and what these scientific disciplines can teach…
The Kepler Mission’s Final Three Planets?
NASA's Kepler spacecraft ended its observations in October 2018 after nine and a half years, a solid six years beyond…
A Third of Planets Orbiting Red Dwarf Stars Could be in the Habitable Zone
A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a pair of researchers from the University…
TESS has Found A Second Earth-Sized World in This System. Exoplanet Science is Maturing
For planet-hunters, finding an Earth-sized exoplanet must be special. NASA estimates there are about 100 billion planets in the Milky…
Do Exoplanet Scientists Have Favorite Exoplanets?
Exoplanets have become quite the sensation over the last decade-plus, with scientists confirming new exoplanets on a regular basis thanks…
Planets are Finally Being Discovered Orbiting Farther From Their Stars
We don't know much about exoplanets with long orbital periods, but we're starting to learn.
Astronomers Have Found the Star/Exoplanet Combo That’s the Best Twin to the Sun/Earth
At times, it seems like there's an indundation of announcements featuring discoveries of "Earth-like" planets. And while those announcements are…
18 – Yes, 18 – New Earth-sized Exoplanets have been Found in Kepler’s Data
Scientists working with data from the Kepler mission have discovered an additional 18 Earth-sized worlds. The team used a newer,…
Two Newly-Discovered Exoplanets are Probably the Result of a Catastrophic Collision
How can two planets so similar in some respects have such different densities? According to a new study, a catastrophic…
Tabby’s Star is Dipping Again!
According to updates by Tabetha Boyajian and her team, it appears that Tabby's Star recently experienced another major dip in…