Tag Archive for 'Exoplanet'

Planet Nine Remains Elusive

May 4, 2016 by News Staff

Earlier this year California Institute of Technology scientists Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown presented strong evidence for Planet Nine, a hypothesized...

This artist’s impression shows an imagined view of the three planets orbiting the ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / N. Risinger, skysurvey.org / ESO.

Three Earth-Sized Exoplanets Found around Ultracool Dwarf TRAPPIST-1

May 2, 2016 by Natali Anderson

A team of astronomers led by Dr. Michaël Gillon from the University of Liège has discovered three Earth-sized exoplanets around a nearby ultracool dwarf...

This is an artist’s impression of PSO J318.5-22. Image credit: MPIA / V. Ch. Quetz.

Free-Floating Giant Planet Analog Found 95 Light-Years Away

Apr 14, 2016 by Natali Anderson

An international team of astronomers has discovered one of the youngest and brightest free-floating, planet-like objects within relatively close proximity...

In this artist’s conception a hot terrestrial exoplanet circles its host star. Image credit: Dana Berry.

Hot Super-Earths: Astronomers Identify New Class of Exoplanet

Apr 11, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using data from NASA’s Kepler mission have identified a new type of exoplanet called ‘hot super-Earths.’ In this artist’s conception...

This artist’s concept depicts a super-Earth. Image credit: NASA / Ames / JPL-Caltech.

Salt Levels of Oceans on Earth-Like Exoplanets Could Have Major Effect on Their Climates

Apr 4, 2016 by News Staff

A new study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals that the circulation in fresh water or salty oceans on terrestrial...

This artist’s impression shows the view from a terrestrial exoplanet towards the planet’s host star in a triple stellar system. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.

KELT-4Ab: Hot Jupiter Exoplanet Found in Triple Stellar System

Apr 4, 2016 by Sergio Prostak

An international team of astronomers has announced the discovery of a transiting hot Jupiter in a rare triple-star system. This artist’s impression shows...

This ALMA image shows the planet-forming disc around TW Hydrae. The inset image zooms in on the gap nearest to the star, which is at the same distance as the Earth is from the Sun, suggesting an infant version of an Earth-like exoplanet could be emerging from the dust and gas. The additional concentric light and dark features represent other planet-forming regions farther out in the disc. Image credit: S. Andrews, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics / ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO.

ALMA Captures Detailed Images of Planet-Forming Disk around Sun-Like Star TW Hydrae

Apr 1, 2016 by News Staff

New images from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) reveal finest details in the protoplanetary disk around the young, Sun-like star...

Artist’s impression of the super-Earth 55 Cancri e orbiting its host star. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Astronomers Create Thermal Map of Super-Earth 55 Cancri e

Mar 31, 2016 by News Staff

Using data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers have mapped how conditions on 55 Cancri e – a ‘nearby’ super-Earth exoplanet –...

HD 80606b: Weird Gaseous Exoplanet Raises Questions about Origins of hot Jupiters

Mar 29, 2016 by News Staff

New observations of HD 80606b raise questions about origins of so-called hot Jupiters, a class of short-period gas giants with a mass similar to Jupiter’s,...

Artist's concept of a cryobot in the ocean of Jupiter's moon Europa. Image credit: NASA.

Scientists Produce First Roadmap for European Astrobiology

Mar 28, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Researchers on the AstRoMap project, a coordination action supported by the European Commission, have surveyed the state of the art of astrobiology in...

HD 20782b. Image credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

HD 20782b: Astronomers Discover Exoplanet with Highly Eccentric Orbit

Mar 21, 2016 by News Staff

HD 20782b’s orbit closely resembles that of a comet, making it the most eccentric planet ever known. This artist’s rendering shows HD 20782b, the most...

Illustration of the super-Jupiter 2M1207b. Image credit: NASA / ESA / G. Bacon, STScI / Y. Zhou, University of Arizona.

Astronomers Measure Rotation of Cloudy Super-Jupiter

Feb 19, 2016 by Natali Anderson

Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, scientists have discovered that a giant extrasolar planet called 2MASSWJ 1207334-393254b has patchy clouds and...

An artist’s impression of the exoplanet 55 Cancri e. According to Tsiaras and co-authors, the atmosphere of this planet consists mainly of hydrogen and helium. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble Space Telescope.

Astronomers Analyze Atmosphere of Super-Earth Exoplanet 55 Cancri e

Feb 17, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, European astronomers have been able to examine the atmosphere of the extrasolar planet 55 Cancri e in unprecedented...

An artist impression of HD 142527 based on ALMA data. According to astronomers, HD 142527 consists of a main star a little more than twice the mass of our Sun and a smaller companion star only about a third the mass of our Sun; they are separated by approximately one billion miles. The rendition shows a distinctive arc of dust (red) embedded in the protoplanetary disk. The red arc is free of gas, suggesting the carbon monoxide has frozen out, forming a layer of frost on the dust grains in that region. Astronomers speculate this frost provides a boost to planet formation. The two dots in the center represent the two stars in the system. Image credit: B. Saxton / NRAO / AUI / NSF.

ALMA Images Shed More Light on Planet Formation around Binary Stars

Feb 17, 2016 by Natali Anderson

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) radio telescope in Chile, an astronomer from the United States has taken a detailed look...

An artist’s impression of the massive exoplanet J2126. Image credit: Neil Cook / University of Hertfordshire.

Astronomers Discover Planet with Largest Orbit Ever

Jan 26, 2016 by News Staff

The planetary-mass object J2126 – previously thought to be a free-floating planet – orbits its parent star in the most distant orbit seen yet,...

Wolf 1061c: Potentially Habitable Super-Earth Spotted 14 Light-Years Away

Dec 17, 2015 by Natali Anderson

A team of astronomers has spotted three exoplanets orbiting around the same star – Wolf 1061 – one of which is in the habitable zone. This...

Artist’s impression of a transitional disc around a young star. Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / M. Kornmesser.

ALMA Spots Infant Exoplanets in Discs around Four Young Stars

Dec 16, 2015 by News Staff

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has found strong evidence that massive planets have recently formed around four very young stars,...

This image shows an artist’s impression of the ten hot Jupiter exoplanets studied by the astronomers. The images are to scale with each other. HAT-P-12b, the smallest of them, is approximately the size of Jupiter, while WASP-17b, the largest planet in the sample, is almost twice the size. The planets are also depicted with a variety of different cloud properties. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble.

Astronomers Solve Missing Water Mystery in Comparative Study of Hot Jupiters

Dec 15, 2015 by Natali Anderson

A survey of so-called hot-Jupiters – giant exoplanets that orbit very close to their host stars – conducted with NASA’s Spitzer and the NASA/ESA...

HD 106906b: Super-Jupiter May Have Been Ejected from Its Birthplace

Dec 4, 2015 by Natali Anderson

HD 106906b, a giant exoplanet discovered last year sitting at a large distance from its parent star, may have been kicked out of its birthplace in a process...

LkCa 15b: Astronomers Capture Image of Exoplanet Forming around Young Star

Nov 19, 2015 by Sergio Prostak

A team of astronomers has captured a photo of an extrasolar planet in the making. Left: composite image of the young planetary system LkCa 15. Right: zoomed...

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