Extrasolar planets

Artist's impression of HD 137010b. credit: NASA/JPL–Caltech/Keith Miller (Caltech/IPAC).)

A candidate for an Earth-sized exoplanet with a year's orbit – but a frozen world

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A possible rocky planet, about 6% larger than Earth, appears to complete an orbit in about 355 days and receives only about 29% of the star's radiation that Earth receives - putting it on the verge of the "habitable zone"
The Pandora Space Telescope. (NASA Scientific Visualization Studio)

NASA launches tiny space telescope Pandora to study atmospheres of 20 exoplanets

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The telescope will simultaneously measure visible and infrared light to separate “noise” from the host star from the signature of the atmosphere, and will help improve observations by the James Webb Space Telescope.
Artist's impression of space weather around the dwarf star M TIC 141146667. The torus of ionized gas is shaped by the star's magnetic field and rotation, with two dense, tightly packed clumps on opposite sides of the star. Credit: Illustration by Navid Marvi, Carnegie Science

Natural space weather stations may help understand what makes planets habitable

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Cold plasma torus around young red dwarfs causes periodic dimming – providing a “space weather station” to measure particles and magnetic fields from afar
A planet outside the solar system. Illustration: depositphotos.com

For the first time: A wandering planet is “weighed” and measured thanks to observations from the ground and space

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Microlensing event observed in both ground-based and Gaia surveys allows parallax measurement, breaking the mass-distance confusion, and estimating a mass on the order of Saturn
A large planet close to its sun (hot Jupiter). Illustration: depositphotos.com

New method reveals: Some hot Jupiter-type planets migrated “quietly” into the disk

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Calculation of orbital rotation times for more than 500 planets indicates a group that could not have reached its current orbit in chaotic migration – and suggests an ordered disk migration
Artist's impression of a cloudy, Earth-like exoplanet with colorful biota in the clouds. Credit: Adam B. Langeveld/Carl Sagan Institute. Adapted from NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech

Scientists have developed a "color key" to detect extraterrestrial life in planetary clouds

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A team from Cornell University and the Carl Sagan Institute has measured spectra of colorful microorganisms in Earth's clouds, creating a color guide that will help identify biopigments as biological signatures in the clouds of cloudy exoplanets.
A rendering that is part of an animation of a Black Widow pulsar burning up its companion. Credit: NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center / Cruz deWilde

Webb found a planet that shouldn't exist – and it's made almost entirely of carbon

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Webb finds planet with carbon atmosphere orbiting pulsar, challenging current models of planet formation
An artist's impression of the planet K2-18b orbiting a red dwarf star 124 light-years away. The planet is thought to have a thick gas envelope and no global ocean. Credit: ESA/Hubble, M. Kornmesser

Earth may not be so special – new study challenges previous assumptions about water on distant planets

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earth-not-so-special-water-exoplanets
Hidden planet discovered: new hope for finding extraterrestrial life?

Hidden planet discovered: new hope for finding extraterrestrial life?

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HD 20794 d, a planet just 20 light-years away, is in the habitable zone of its star system. Could it support life?
An artist's impression of the two newly discovered planets: an inner super-Earth, seen here transiting in front of its orange host star, and a giant icy planet on the edge of the system. Credit: Thibaut Roger – Université de Genève

Astronomers amazed by the unusual solar system WASP-132

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Two new planets discovered in the WASP-132 system are challenging the conventional understanding of planetary system formation. The discovery includes a nearby super-Earth alongside a hot Jupiter, alongside a distant ice giant, challenging the theory
Illustration of the Kepler-51 system and its three inner planets, characterized by extremely low density. New observations from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope indicate that at least one more planet exists in the system. Credit: NASA, ESA L. Hustak, J. Olmsted, D. Player F. Summers (STScI).

Another planet from the "cotton ball" family was discovered in the Kepler-51 system

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Artistic interpretation of the system IRAS 04125+2902 (TIDYE-1). Young stars like this are covered in starspots - cooler regions of the surface of the star around them. The inner disk is emptied, leaving an intact outer disk that forms a donut-like structure around the host star. The outer disk is almost in front of the face, compared to the orbit of the planet around the star which is in front of the rim. This allows an unobstructed view of the system. If the disk was also in front of the rim, it would block the planet and host star, preventing the discovery. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt, K. Miller (Caltech/IPAC)

The discovery of the planet TIDYE-1, the youngest so far, shatters the theories about the formation of planets

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Researchers have discovered TIDYE-1, a young planet only three million years old, rapidly orbiting its star * An intact outer disk and unique orbit reveal the star and its planet thanks to
A planet with an atmosphere. The image was prepared using DALEE and is not a scientific image

Life beyond the earth? James Webb Space Telescope Probes Crucial Clues About Distant Planets

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New research suggests that rocky planets orbiting red dwarfs may have stable atmospheres suitable for life, with promising evidence from the James Webb Space Telescope
A crew member works under the Roman instrument carrier during the coronagraph integration in a clean room at NASA Goddard Center in October 2024. Credit: NASA/Sydney Rohda

The 'Roman' space telescope received a device that will allow breaking new ground in the search for extraterrestrial worlds

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UV radiation from interstellar emissions can erode the atmospheres of planets. Credit: University of Hawaii at Manoa

When Red Dwarfs Attack: High-energy UV radiation from stellar emissions can be life-threatening 

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Groundbreaking research has revealed that red dwarfs can produce stellar emissions that carry much higher levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation than previously believed, casting doubt on the ability of planets
The 25 most interesting images taken by the Chandra Space Telescope in its 25 years so far. Credit: NASA/SAO/CXC

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory Celebrates 25 Years With Impressive Cosmic Images

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Since its launch in 1999, Chandra has helped unravel cosmic mysteries, supported the research of thousands of astronomers, and maintained its status as a cornerstone of astrophysical research.
An international team of astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has directly imaged an extrasolar planet about 12 light-years from Earth. Although there were hints that the planet existed, it was not confirmed until Webb photographed it. The planet is one of the coldest exoplanets observed so far.

Webb photographs a cold extrasolar planet 12 light years away

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The mass of the planet, named Epsilon Indi Ab, is about three times that of Jupiter and it orbits the K-type star Epsilon Indi A, which is about the age of the Sun but is slightly
Planets orbit double stars. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Change in definitions: A planet can orbit more than one sun and even remnants of the sun

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A redefinition of planets throughout the universe is required. This is what a group of astronomers from UCLA claims * The researchers will present the new definition at the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union in August
The brightness of RS Puppis, one of the brightest Cepheid variable stars, changes at a constant rate on a six-week cycle. Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)-Hubble/Europe Collaboration

Pulsating Beacons: Revolutionary Measurements Redefine Cepheid Variable Stars

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**Title:** Pulsating Beacons: Revolutionary Measurements Redefine Cupid Stars **Subtitle:** New study reveals deep insights into the structure and evolution of cupid stars through precise radial measurements, offering new approaches to the study of the universe
The black holes orbiting each other. Both black holes have jets associated with them: the larger one in red, the smaller one in yellow. Normally only the red jet is visible, but in the 12 hours on November 12, 2021 the small jet was dominant, giving a direct signal from the smaller black hole, and was observed for the first time. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC) & M. Mugrauer (AIU Jena)

NASA's Planet Hunter's Rare Look at Two Black Holes in a Distant Galaxy

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Two black holes orbit each other but usually only see the jet of one of them A rare observation made it possible to see the other as well and provide new insights
Magnesium oxide, the first component that crystallized in the process of creating a planet slightly larger than Earth. The image was prepared using DALEE and should not be considered a scientific image

Scientists discover the first building blocks in the formation of super-Earths

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Scientists observed for the first time how atoms in a magnesium oxide molecule change and dissociate under extremely harsh conditions, and gained new insights into this important mineral in the Earth's mantle that is known to influence the formation of planets
Artist's impression of a protoplanetary disk. Credit: ESA

The Webb Space Telescope finds an abundance of carbon molecules around a young star

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"It's amazing that we can detect and quantify the amount of molecules we know very well on Earth, like benzene, which is actually more than 600 light-years away," said one of the authors of the paper that appeared.
A collage of artist renderings highlighting the innovative approaches proposed by 2 NIAC Phase 2024 grantees for possible future missions. Credit: From left: Edward Balaban, Mary Knapp, Mahmooda Sultana, Brianna Clements, Ethan Schaler

Straight out of science fiction: NASA promotes six futuristic space technologies

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Each completed the first phase of NASA's accelerator program, in which it showed that its future ideas — such as a lunar rail system and liquid-based telescopes — might provide perspectives
An artist's concept of WASP-107 b shows turbulent atmospheric mixing within the planet's gas mantle. Credit: Roberto Muller Candanosa/Johns Hopkins University NASA, ESA, CSA, Ralf Crawford (STScI)

The Webb Space Telescope offers the first glimpse into the interior of an extrasolar planet

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Methane found in WASP-107 b reveals core mass and stormy sky
Artistic image of the planet Proxima Centauri b'. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

New research investigates the effect of ozone on the climates of extrasolar planets

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A team of researchers led by Dr. Assaf Hochman from the Hebrew University revealed the role of ozone in shaping the atmospheric dynamics of Proxima Centauri b. Their findings, derived from advanced models of climate chemistry and advanced theories of
An amusing representation of the TOI-1136 system if each of the bodies in the system were a duck or a duckling. Credit: Rae Holcomb/University of California at Irvine

The evolution of planets is revealed in a distant solar system

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A newly discovered solar system with six confirmed extrasolar planets and a possible seventh increases astronomers' knowledge of star formation and evolution
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