161–180 of 338 results

Exoplanets

NASA’s K2 Mission Confirms 100+ Exoplanets

Kepler’s K2 mission has confirmed 104 new exoplanets — including a rocky, four-planet system.

planet in triple-star system

Exoplanets

Exoplanet Found in Triple Star System

Astronomers have retracted the discovery of a giant planet with an exceptionally wide orbit in a young system of three suns.

Exoplanet, NASA

Exoplanets

Giant Planets and Wonky Orbits

Kepler-108 is the first system observed with really wonky orbits, which may be a result of giant planets bumping into each other.

K2-33b

Exoplanets

Newborn Exoplanets Point to Early Chaos

A recent glut of exoplanet research reveals the early chaos that helped shape planetary systems.

Gas disk around HL Tau

Exoplanets

The Gaseous Footprints of Baby Planets

Astronomers re-analyzed two-year-old data from the ALMA observatory in Chile and discovered gas gaps that probably indicate baby planets in the disk around a young star.

Exoplanets

Disk Around HR 8799 Hints at Hidden Fifth Planet

A high-resolution ALMA image of the HR 8799 planetary disk suggests undiscovered planet.

Exoplanets

Kepler’s 1,284 Newly Confirmed Planets

Even though Kepler’s primary mission ended three years ago, the data it collected just revealed a mother lode: 1,284 newly confirmed planets.

Protoplanetary disk

Stellar Science

Light Echoes Map Planet-forming Disk

Light’s finite speed helped astronomers pinpoint the location of the “inner wall” of the disk of dust and gas that’s feeding a fast-growing baby star.

TRAPPIST-1 planet system artist's illustration

Exoplanets

Earth-size Planets Around Nearby Dwarf Star

Astronomers just discovered three planets, two of which are roughly the size of Earth, orbiting a dim nearby dwarf star. Their proximity makes their atmospheres ripe for observing.

Breakthrough Starshot - screengrab of laser acceleration video

Space Missions

$100 Million for Fast Probes to Alpha Centauri. Yes, Really.

Yuri Milner commits $100 million to Breakthrough Starshot, a research and development project toward sending interstellar nanoprobes to Alpha Centauri.

55 Cancri e, animated

Exoplanets

Hot Nights, Hotter Days on Exoplanet 55 Cancri e

A new thermal map of a super-Earth exoplanet is puzzling astronomers.

red dwarf in Hyades

Exoplanets

Exoplanet in the Hyades Star Cluster

Professional and amateur astronomers working together have found a young exoplanet in the Hyades star cluster. The planet is weirdly large, given its host star.

55 Cancri e

Exoplanets

Hubble Sheds Light on Super Exoplanets

New observations from the Hubble Space Telescope are helping characterize the atmospheres of exotic planets such as 55 Cancri e.

Proxima Centauri

Exoplanets

Hunting for Planets Around Proxima Centauri

The Pale Red Dot Initiative has begun the search in earnest for exoplanets orbiting the nearest star to Earth besides the Sun.

Hubble Exoplanets

Exoplanets

Hubble Peers Inside Exoplanets' Atmospheres

Astronomers studying hot Jupiter exoplanets revealed when and how clouds form on these alien worlds.

Giant Exoplanet

Exoplanets

Kepler’s Giant Exoplanet Candidates — Real or Not?

A new study shows that about half of Kepler’s giant exoplanet candidates aren’t real planets. But astronomers expected this.

Lopsided protoplanetary disk

Exoplanets

Forming Exoplanets Near and Very Far

Astronomers at the Extreme Solar Systems III conference announced several exciting results this week.

disintegrating planet or asteroid

Exoplanets

White Dwarf Eats Mini Planet?

Astronomers have detected debris around a white dwarf that might be from one or more disintegrating rocky planets.

Asteroid breakup (artwork)

Space Missions

The Curious Case of KIC 8462852

The Kepler spacecraft recorded a bunch of irregular dimmings around one of its target stars, designated KIC 8462852. No natural phenomenon explains the dips well.

Exoplanets

Searching for Exoplanets Around HL Tau

When astronomers went searching for the planets that must exist around HL Tau, they came up empty — and future searches may not fare much better.