Extrasolar Planets News

June 25, 2024

Top Headlines

Telltale Greenhouse Gases Could Signal Alien Activity

June 25, 2024 — If aliens modified a planet in their solar system to make it warmer, we'd be able to tell. A new study identifies the artificial greenhouse gases that would be giveaways of a terraformed ...

Watery Planets Orbiting Dead Stars May Be Good Candidates for Studying Life -- If They Can Survive Long Enough

June 13, 2024 — The small footprint and dim light of white dwarfs, remnants of stars that have burned through their fuel, may make excellent backdrops for studying planets with enough water to harbor life. The trick ...

Small, Cool and Sulfurous Exoplanet May Help Write Recipe for Planetary Formation

June 10, 2024 — Astronomers observing exoplanet GJ 3470 b saw evidence of water, carbon dioxide, methane and sulfur dioxide. Astronomers hope the discovery of this exoplanet's sulfurous atmosphere will advance our ...

Planet-Forming Disks Around Very Low-Mass Stars Are Different

June 6, 2024 — Using the James Webb Space Telescope, a team of astronomers studied the properties of a planet-forming disk around a young and very low-mass star. The results reveal the richest hydrocarbon composition seen to date in a protoplanetary disk, ...

Latest Headlines

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Mysterious Mini-Neptunes

June 13, 2024 — This study discovered mini-Neptunes around four red dwarfs using observations from a global network of ground-based telescopes and the TESS space telescope. These four mini-Neptunes are close to ...

'Weird' New Planet Retained Atmosphere Despite Nearby Star's Relentless Radiation

June 5, 2024 — A rare exoplanet that should have been stripped down to bare rock by its nearby host star's intense radiation somehow grew a puffy atmosphere instead ...

Intriguing Nearby World Sized Between Earth, Venus

May 23, 2024 — Astronomers have discovered a planet between the sizes of Earth and Venus only 40 light-years ...

Planet Hunters Unveil Massive Catalog of Strange Worlds

May 23, 2024 — While thousands of planets have been discovered around other stars, relatively little is known about them. A NASA catalog featuring 126 exotic, newly discovered worlds includes detailed measurements ...

Potentially Habitable 'Exo-Venus' With Earth-Like Temperature Discovered

May 23, 2024 — Astronomers have made the rare and tantalizing discovery of an Earth-like exoplanet 40 light-years away that may be just a little warmer than our own world. The potentially-habitable planet, named ...

Webb Telescope Offers First Glimpse of an Exoplanet's Interior

May 20, 2024 — A surprisingly low amount of methane and a super-sized core hide within the cotton candy -- like planet WASP-107 ...

Detection of an Earth-Sized Exoplanet Orbiting the Ultracool Dwarf Star SPECULOOS-3

May 15, 2024 — Astronomers have just discovered a new Earth-sized exoplanet around SPECULOOS-3, an 'ultracool dwarf' star as small as Jupiter, twice as cold as our ...

WASP-193b, a Giant Planet With a Density Similar to That of Cotton Candy

May 14, 2024 — Astronomers have just discovered WASP-193b, an extraordinarily low-density giant planet orbiting a distant Sun-like ...

Squeezed by Neighbors, Planet Glows With Molten Lava

May 9, 2024 — Astrophysicists discovered that an exoplanet is covered with so many active volcanoes that seen from a distance it would take on a fiery, glowing-red ...

Possible Atmosphere Surrounding Rocky Exoplanet

May 8, 2024 — Researchers may have detected atmospheric gases surrounding 55 Cancri e, a hot rocky exoplanet 41 light-years from Earth. This is the best evidence to date for the existence of any rocky planet ...

Webb Telescope Probably Didn't Find Life on an Exoplanet -- Yet

May 2, 2024 — Recent reports of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope finding signs of life on a distant planet understandably sparked excitement. A new study challenges this finding, but also outlines how the ...

NASA's Webb Maps Weather on Planet 280 Light-Years Away

Apr. 30, 2024 — Researchers have successfully used NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to map the weather on the hot gas-giant exoplanet WASP-43 ...

Exoplanets True to Size

Apr. 12, 2024 — A star's magnetic field must be considered in order to correctly determine the characteristics of exoplanets from observations by space telescopes such as Kepler, James Webb, or PLATO. ...

Study Shedding New Light on Earth's Global Carbon Cycle Could Help Assess Liveability of Other Planets

Apr. 10, 2024 — Research has uncovered important new insights into the evolution of oxygen, carbon, and other vital elements over the entire history of Earth -- and it could help assess which other planets can ...

CHEOPS Detects a 'Rainbow' on an Exoplanet

Apr. 5, 2024 — The CHEOPS space telescope is providing new information on the mysterious exoplanet WASP-76b. This ultra-hot giant is characterized by an asymmetry between the amount of light observed on its eastern ...

Astronomers Conduct First Search for Forming Planets With New Space Telescope

Mar. 27, 2024 — Planets form in disks of dust and gas called protoplanetary disks that whirl around a central protostar during its final ...

Tiniest 'Starquake' Ever Detected

Mar. 26, 2024 — An orange dwarf star has yielded the tiniest 'starquakes' ever recorded, measured by an international team of ...

Groundbreaking Survey Reveals Secrets of Planet Birth Around Dozens of Stars

Mar. 5, 2024 — A team of astronomers has shed new light on the fascinating and complex process of planet formation. The research brings together observations of more than 80 young stars that might have planets ...

Ultraviolet Radiation from Massive Stars Shapes Planetary Systems

Mar. 1, 2024 — Up to a certain point, very luminous stars can have a positive effect on the formation of planets, but from that point on the radiation they emit can cause the material in protoplanetary discs to ...

Astronomers Reveal a New Link Between Water and Planet Formation

Feb. 29, 2024 — Researchers have found water vapor in the disc around a young star exactly where planets may be forming. Water is a key ingredient for life on Earth, and is also thought to play a significant role in ...

A New Beginning: The Search for More Temperate Tatooines

Feb. 22, 2024 — Luke Skywalker's childhood might have been slightly less harsh if he'd grown up on a more temperate Tatooine -- like the ones identified in a new study. According to the study's ...

Mysterious Gap in Size Distribution of Super-Earths Explained

Feb. 9, 2024 — Astronomers have uncovered evidence of how the enigmatic gap in the size distribution of exoplanets at around two Earth radii emerges. Their computer simulations demonstrate that the migration of ...

Newly Discovered Carbon Monoxide-Runaway Gap Can Help Identify Habitable Exoplanets

Feb. 6, 2024 — A carbon monoxide (CO)-runaway gap identified in the atmospheres of Earth-like planets can help expand the search for habitable planets. This gap, identified through atmospheric modeling, is an ...

Neptune-Like Exoplanets Can Be Cloudy or Clear

Feb. 2, 2024 — Astronomers have shown new atmospheric detail in a set of 15 exoplanets similar to Neptune. While none could support humanity, a better understanding of their behavior might help us to understand why ...

Researchers Spying for Signs of Life Among Exoplanet Atmospheres

Jan. 29, 2024 — The next generation of advanced telescopes could sharpen the hunt for potential extraterrestrial life by closely scrutinizing the atmospheres of nearby exoplanets, new research ...

Astronomers Unravel Mysteries of Planet Formation and Evolution in Distant Planetary System

Jan. 26, 2024 — TOI-1136, a dwarf star located more than 270 light years from Earth, is host to six confirmed exoplanets and a seventh as yet unconfirmed candidate. The system has provided a rich source of ...

Earth-Sized Planet Discovered in 'Our Solar Backyard'

Jan. 14, 2024 — Astronomers have discovered a planet closer and younger than any other Earth-sized world yet identified. It's a remarkably hot world whose proximity to our own planet and to a star like our sun ...

Astronomers Make Rare Exoplanet Discovery, and a Giant Leap in Detecting Earth-Like Bodies

Jan. 11, 2024 — Astronomers have made the rare discovery of a small, cold exoplanet and its massive outer companion -- shedding light on the formation of planets like ...

Unlocking the Secrets of a 'Hot Saturn' and Its Spotted Star

Jan. 9, 2024 — A team of astronomers has unraveled the enigmatic atmosphere of the exoplanet HAT-P-18 b, shedding light on its intriguing blend of gases, clouds, and even the effects of its star's ...

Meteorite Analysis Shows Earth's Building Blocks Contained Water

Jan. 9, 2024 — Analysis of iron meteorites from the earliest years of the solar system indicate that the planetary 'seeds' that ultimately formed Earth contained ...