Ironing out the interiors of exoplanets
The discovery of more than 4,500 extra-solar planets has created a need for modelling their interior structure and dynamics. As it turns out, iron plays a key role......»»
Astronomers discover hot, dense planet with eight-hour year
In a new study, published in the journal Nature, the researchers show that the planet, which is 31 light years from Earth, is one of the lightest among the nearly 5,000 exoplanets (planets outside our own solar system) that are known today, with half.....»»
Astronomers discover more than 300 possible new exoplanets
UCLA astronomers have identified 366 new exoplanets, thanks in large part to an algorithm developed by a UCLA postdoctoral scholar. Among their most noteworthy findings is a planetary system that comprises a star and at least two gas giant planets, e.....»»
MKID detectors turn out to have 100 times lower noise
Scientists use superconducting detectors (MKIDs) to discern the spectrum of exoplanets from their faint glow. Now, researchers from SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research and TU Delft have observed 100 times lower noise than expected, providin.....»»
New deep learning method adds 301 planets to Kepler"s total count
Scientists recently added a whopping 301 newly validated exoplanets to the total exoplanet tally. The throng of planets is the latest to join the 4,569 already validated planets orbiting a multitude of distant stars. How did scientists discover such.....»»
Cheshire Architects uses local materials to create The Hotel Britomart in Auckland
Cheshire Architects used local Kiwi materials and craftwork for the interiors of this hotel in Auckland, New Zealand. Read more Cheshire Architects used local Kiwi materials and craftwork for the interiors of this hotel in Auckland, New Zea.....»»
Weird weather: Metal rain and super-high temperatures on an ultra-hot exoplanet
Ultra-hot Jupiters—named as such because of their physical similarities to the planet Jupiter—are exoplanets that orbit stars other than the sun with temperatures so high that the molecules in their atmospheres are completely torn apart. They are.....»»
To find life on other planets, NASA rocket team looks to the stars
A NASA sounding rocket will observe a nearby star to learn how starlight affects the atmospheres of exoplanets—key information in the hunt for life outside our solar system......»»
The Guide for the Next Decade of Space Research Just Dropped
The Astro2020 Decadal Survey's top priorities include new telescopes, the search for habitable exoplanets, and far-infrared and x-ray probe missions......»»
Rocky exoplanets are even stranger than we thought
An astronomer from NSF's NOIRLab has teamed up with a geologist from California State University, Fresno, to make the first estimates of rock types that exist on planets orbiting nearby stars. After studying the chemical composition of "polluted" whi.....»»
Astronomers may have discovered the first planet outside of our galaxy
Signs of a planet transiting a star outside of the Milky Way galaxy may have been detected for the first time. This intriguing result, using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, opens up a new window to search for exoplanets at greater distances than ev.....»»
Astronomers provide "field guide" to exoplanets known as hot Jupiters
Hot Jupiters—giant gas planets that race around their host stars in extremely tight orbits—have become a little bit less mysterious thanks to a new study combining theoretical modeling with observations by the Hubble Space Telescope......»»
Need for massive space telescope inspires lightweight flexible holographic lens
Inspired by a concept for discovering exoplanets with a massive space telescope, a team of researchers is developing holographic lenses that render visible and infrared starlight into either a focused image or a spectrum. The experimental method, det.....»»
"Auroral" Exoplanets Could Help Boost Searches for Alien Life
Four candidate worlds found via flashes of radio emission may be the first of many revealed by a new planet-hunting technique -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com.....»»
Astronomers discover twin sub-Neptune exoplanets orbiting nearby star
By analyzing the data from the TESS-Keck Survey (TKS), an international team of astronomers reports the detection of two almost identically sized sub-Neptune exoplanets orbiting a nearby star. The newly found alien worlds, designated HD 63935 b and H.....»»
James Webb Space Telescope arrives in French Guiana ahead of launch
The James Webb Space Telescope, which will allow astronomers to hunt for habitable exoplanets, has arrived at its launch destination in French Guiana......»»
A technique to find oceans on other worlds
You could say that the study of extrasolar planets is in a phase of transition of late. To date, 4,525 exoplanets have been confirmed in 3,357 systems, with another 7,761 candidates awaiting confirmation. As a result, exoplanet studies have been movi.....»»
Spectral resolution of superconducting single photon detectors more than doubled
Scientist use superconducting detectors (MKIDs) to capture single photons coming from exoplanets. MKIDs constantly monitor their own kinetic inductance, which changes proportionally to the energy of an incoming photon. Researchers from SRON Netherlan.....»»
"Planet confusion" could slow Earth-like exoplanet exploration
When it comes to directly imaging Earth-like exoplanets orbiting faraway stars, seeing isn't always believing......»»
"Bare" super-earths offer clues to evolution of hot atmospheres
A group of astronomers from the Astrobiology Center, the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, the University of Tokyo, and other institutes, discovered two rocky super-Earth exoplanets lacking thick primordial atmospheres in very close orbits.....»»
Come on in, the water is superionic
The interiors of Uranus and Neptune each contain about 50 000 times the amount of water in Earth's oceans, and a form of water known as superionic water is believed to be stable at depths greater than about one-third of the radius of these ice giants.....»»