Transit Method
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…
Satellites Watched Mercury’s Transit From Space, Confirming That Yes, the Sun Has At Least One Planet
Do you wonder how astronomers find all those exoplanets orbiting stars in distant solar systems? Mostly they use the transit…
It Seems Impossible, But Somehow This Planet Survived its Star’s Red Giant Phase
Astronomers working with TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) data have found a planet where it shouldn't be: in the space…
The Planet-Hunting TESS Discovers Its Smallest Exoplanet to Date
TESS recently discovered a three-planet system orbiting a red dwarf star 35 light years away, increasing the number of rocky…
What is the Direct Imaging Method?
A highly effective (but very difficult) method of exoplanet detection involves capturing direct images of bodies orbiting distant stars from…
TESS Practices on a Comet Before Starting on its Science Operations
Before commencing its mission to find exoplanets, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite took some impressive images of a comet in…
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope will Inspect the Atmospheres of Distant Gas Giants
When the James Webb Space Telescope is deployed, it will study and characterize the atmospheres of gas giants, with the…
Kepler’s Almost Out of Fuel. It’ll Make its Last Observation in a Few Months
The Kepler mission, which is responsible for the majority of exoplanet discoveries, is running out of fuel and will be…
For the First Time, Planets Have Been Discovered in ANOTHER Galaxy!
Thanks to a new study performed by a pair of astrophysicists from the University of Oklahoma, the first extra-galactic planets…
The New Earth-Sized Planet Hunting Telescope ExTrA is Now Online
The Exoplanets in Transits and their Atmospheres (ExTrA), just went online and is now searching for exoplanets around red dwarf…