exoplanets

Latest about exoplanets

James Webb Space Telescope in outer space.

James Webb telescope could detect life on Earth from across the galaxy, new study suggests

By Harry Baker published

Researchers have shown that if the James Webb Space Telescope was pointed at Earth from a distant star, it could detect the signatures of intelligent life in our planet's atmosphere.

Exoplanets
Kepler's exoplanets.

How many planets are in the universe?

By Briley Lewis published

We currently know of 5,502 planets beyond the solar system, but we've only found the tiniest fraction of the planets astronomers think lie elsewhere in the universe.

Space
Drawing of brown dwarf surrounded by a swirling disc of planet-building dust.

Why do some stars fail to ignite?

By Robert Lea published

Also known as "failed stars," brown dwarfs are celestial bodies that sit on the boundary between gas giant planets and tiny stars.

Cosmology
An illustration of the James Webb Space Telescope

James Webb Space Telescope: Origins, design and mission objectives

By Andrew May last updated

Reference NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has launched and it's the most powerful in history, giving us the deepest ever view into our universe.

Reference
An artist's illustration of Halla surviving a potentially cataclysmic merger between the two stars in its binary system.

Mysterious 'zombie planet' Halla seems to have survived the explosive death of its star. How?

By Ben Turner published

The Jupiter-sized exoplanet Halla has somehow survived the death of its star, and astronomers aren't sure how.

Exoplanets
An image of the stunning pinwheel galaxy, which looks like a twirling spiral of pink and purple light

Aliens might be using a nearby supernova to get our attention, new study suggests

By Briley Lewis published

SN 2023ixf is the closest supernova to Earth in more than a decade — and the perfect excuse for intelligent aliens to get our attention, new SETI research suggests.

Extraterrestrial Life
A rocky planet orbits a small, red star known as a red dwarf -- the most common type of star in the galaxy.

There may be hundreds of millions of habitable planets in the Milky Way, new study suggests

By Briley Lewis published

A new analysis of Kepler data shows that one-third of small stars called M dwarfs may have the potential to host life.

Exoplanets
A computer-generated visualization of solar wind interacting with Earth’s magnetic field during a powerful solar storm. Similar disturbances in a distant star system may be emitting strange radio signals.

Strange radio signals detected from Earth-like planet could be a magnetic field necessary for life

By Briley Lewis published

Earth's magnetic field protects life on our blue planet — and astronomers just found evidence of a magnetic field on a rocky exoplanet 12 light-years away.

Planets
An illustration of a rocky, Earth-like planet soaking up heat from its small red sun

James Webb telescope detects light from a small, Earth-like planet — and finds it's missing its atmosphere

By Briley Lewis published

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope measured the temperature of the Earth-like planet TRAPPIST-1b and found that it is too hot for humans and likely has no atmosphere.

Exoplanets
An illustration of a fiery red 'super Jupiter' planet with a raging red dust storm on its surface

James Webb telescope spots dust storm raging on a giant planet nearly 20 times the size of Jupiter

By JoAnna Wendel published

Using the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists observed a massive dust storm in the atmosphere of VHS 1256 b, a 'super-Jupiter' exoplanet located 40 light-years from Earth.

Exoplanets
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