Weird, hypothetical objects called "ploonets" may start life as a moon circling a giant planet, but models show they can be exiled and essentially turn into planets themselves. If true, this theory could explain away some astronomical mysteries.
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Astronomers have discovered a weird star system that appears to be dimming completely at random, and none of the usual explanations seem to fit.
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NASA astronomers have managed to probe the atmosphere of GJ 3470 b, a planet unlike any in our solar system. It marks the first time for this kind of world, and could be a step towards identifying potentially habitable planets.
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Three new, roughly Earth-sized exoplanets have been found orbiting a nearby star. Named L 98-59b, c and d, the small worlds were spotted by NASA’s TESS, as part of a larger haul of data that finally brings the total tally past the milestone of 4,000 exoplanets discovered to date.
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A team of astronomers has found a "forbidden" planet orbiting the "Neptunian Desert" of another star. Located 920 light years from Earth, exoplanet NGTS-4b is 20 percent smaller than Neptune, yet it retains an atmosphere despite being close enough to circle its star once every 1.3 days.
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Another 18 exoplanets have been added to the haul, but the difference this time is that all of them are roughly Earth-sized – much smaller than the Neptune-sized average found so far. The discovery was made in old data, using a new and more sensitive algorithm.
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TRAPPIST-1 is one the most fascinating planetary systems discovered so far. Now, two new studies have looked at the habitability of these planets, with a focus on radiation from the star and tides caused by the other planets. Strangely enough, these factors could help make them more liveable.
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A team of astronomers led by MIT has confirmed that NASA's unmanned Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) space telescope has discovered its first Earth-sized exoplanet. Called HD 21749c, it orbits the main-sequence star HD 21749, 52 light years away from Earth.
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Unfortunately, some of the most likely candidates for life on exoplanets are bathed in apparently-lethal levels of radiation – but a new study from Cornell University says that might not be a problem. Case in point: Earth.
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ESA's CHaracterising ExOPlanets Satellite (CHEOPS) has been declared flight ready and is being stored at the Airbus Defence and Space facility in Madrid before being shipped to Kourou, French Guiana, where it will be installed atop a Soyuz-Fregat rocket.
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