Extrasolar Planets News

April 24, 2024

Top Headlines

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. Researchers show that the distribution of the star's brightness ...

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 terminator -- the fictitious line that separates ...

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 ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:49pm EDT

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 ...

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 authors, there are ...

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, ...

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 ...

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. ...

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 ...

Three Iron Rings in a Planet-Forming Disk

Jan. 8, 2024 — Astronomers have detected a three-ringed structure in the nursery of planets in the inner planet-forming disk of a young star. This configuration suggests two Jupiter-mass planets are forming in the ...

A Carbon-Lite Atmosphere Could Be a Sign of Water and Life on Other Terrestrial Planets

Dec. 28, 2023 — Best chance of finding liquid water, and even life on other planets, is to look for the absence of carbon dioxide in their ...

Tiniest Free-Floating Brown Dwarf

Dec. 13, 2023 — Brown dwarfs are objects that straddle the dividing line between stars and planets. They form like stars, growing dense enough to collapse under their own gravity, but they never become dense and hot ...

Some Icy Exoplanets May Have Habitable Oceans and Geysers

Dec. 13, 2023 — A new study expands the search for life beyond our solar system by indicating that 17 exoplanets (worlds outside our solar system) could have oceans of liquid water, an essential ingredient for life, ...

Giant Doubts About Giant Exomoons

Dec. 7, 2023 — The extrasolar planets Kepler-1625b and Kepler-1708b are supposedly the home worlds of the first known exomoons. A new study now comes to a different ...

Discovery of Planet Too Big for Its Sun Throws Off Solar System Formation Models

Nov. 30, 2023 — The discovery of a planet that is far too massive for its sun is calling into question what was previously understood about the formation of planets and their solar ...

Rocky Planets Can Form in Extreme Environments

Nov. 30, 2023 — Astronomers have provided the first observation of water and other molecules in the highly irradiated inner, rocky-planet-forming regions of a disk in one of the most extreme environments in our ...

An Astronomical Waltz Reveals a Sextuplet of Planets

Nov. 29, 2023 — Astronomers have found a key new system of six transiting planets orbiting a bright star in a harmonic rhythm. This rare property enabled the team to determine the planetary orbits which initially ...

Building Blocks for Life Could Have Formed Near New Stars and Planets

Nov. 29, 2023 — While life on Earth is relatively new, geologically speaking, the ingredients that combined to form it might be much older than once thought. The simplest amino acid, carbamic acid, could have formed ...

Astronomers Discover Disc Around Star in Another Galaxy

Nov. 29, 2023 — In a remarkable discovery, astronomers have found a disc around a young star in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a galaxy neighboring ours. It's the first time such a disc, identical to those forming ...

Alien Haze, Cooked in a Lab, Clears View to Distant Water Worlds

Nov. 27, 2023 — Scientists have simulated conditions that allow hazy skies to form in water-rich exoplanets, a crucial step in determining how haziness muddles important telescope observations for the search of ...

James Webb Space Telescope Detects Water Vapor, Sulfur Dioxide and Sand Clouds in the Atmosphere of a Nearby Exoplanet

Nov. 15, 2023 — Astronomers have used recent observations made with the James Webb Space Telescope to study the atmosphere of the nearby exoplanet WASP-107b. Peering deep into the fluffy atmosphere of WASP-107b they ...

'Bouncing' Comets Could Deliver Building Blocks for Life to Exoplanets

Nov. 14, 2023 — How did the molecular building blocks for life end up on Earth? One long-standing theory is that they could have been delivered by comets. Now, researchers have shown how comets could deposit similar ...

Extended Habitability of Exoplanets Due to Subglacial Water

Nov. 9, 2023 — New research promises to redefine our comprehension of habitable exoplanets. A recent study introduces the concept of subglacial liquid water as a pivotal element in broadening the boundaries of the ...

Giant Planets Cast a Deadly Pall

Oct. 31, 2023 — Giant gas planets can be agents of chaos, ensuring nothing lives on their Earth-like neighbors around other stars. New studies show, in some planetary systems, the giants tend to kick smaller planets ...

Uranus Aurora Discovery Offers Clues to Habitable Icy Worlds

Oct. 26, 2023 — Astronomers confirm the existence of an infrared (IR) aurora on Uranus. This could help astronomers identify exoplanets that might support life, a large number of which are icy ...