Exoplanets
The Next Step In The Search For Aliens Is A Huge Telescope And A Ton Of Math
Aliens could be hiding on almost any of the Milky Way’s roughly 100 billion planets, but so far, we haven’t been able to find them (dubious claims to …
Planetary HabitabilityHow Aliens Might Use 'Network Theory' For Galactic Communications
Advanced technological civilizations looking for efficient communication from one end of a galaxy to another would best be served by tapping into a network of transiting extrasolar earths. That is, extrasolar earths capable of being observed transiting across the face of their parent stars. Or so …
AliensAdvanced Civilizations Could Build a Galactic Internet with Planetary Transits
Decades after Enrico Fermi’s uttered his famous words – “Where is everybody?” – the Paradox that bears his name still haunts us. Despite repeated …
AstronomyHow gamers are helping scientists discover new exoplanets
GENEVA, July 21 — Players of the online multiplayer video game EVE Online have the opportunity to contribute to real-life astronomical research by …
GamingExtraterrestrial life - Things We Don't Know
Article curated by Holly Godwin<p>With the revolutionary steps made in space exploration, and a whole universe to explore, many questions relating to …
AstronomyEarth-Sized Planet Takes Just Four Hours to Orbit its Star
The Kepler space observatory has made some interesting finds since it began its mission back in March of 2009. Even after the mission suffered the …
AstronomyEarth's Tectonic Activity May Be Crucial for Life -- and Rare in Our Galaxy
Our planet is in constant flux. Tectonic plates—the large slabs of rock that divide Earth’s crust so that it looks like a cracked eggshell—jostle …
GeologyNew Studies Indicate Life on TRAPPIST-1’s Exoplanets Might be Impossible
The discovery of seven Earth-like planets orbiting red dwarf star TRAPPIST-1, which is around 40 light years away from our solar system, has piqued …
Habitable ZoneMassive Tides Could Boost TRAPPIST-1's Prospects For Life
Earlier this year, Earthlings rejoiced when scientists announced the discovery of three rocky exoplanets in the habitable zone of TRAPPIST-1, an …
HarvardDiscovery of a Free-Floating Double Planet? - Sky & Telescope
Artist’s impression of a low-mass binary system. A newly discovered system may be so low-mass as to contain planets rather than stars!<i><br>Gemini</i> …
AstronomySuper Aliens May Use 'Starshades' To Fight Climate Change
Highly-advanced alien civilizations aiming to protect their home planets from the ravages of climate change may use massive earth-sized starshades to keep cool. If so, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Plato mission and other forthcoming astronomical hardware should be able to detect them. Or so …
AstronomyEurope's Newest Exoplanet Hunter Is Built From Five Stock Digital Cameras
MASCARA is cheap, flexible, and only requires off-the-shelf digital cameras.<p>The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has made the first successful observations with its latest exoplanet hunter, the MASCARA (Multi-site All-Sky CAmeRA) station in Chile. It is the second MASCARA station in the world, …
Astronomy'Peculiar' radio signals emerge from nearby star
Some very "peculiar signals" have been noticed coming from a star just 11 light-years away, scientists in Puerto Rico say.<p>The mystery has gripped the …
Planetary HabitabilityStrange Radio Signals Detected from a Nearby Star
Astronomers have been listening to radio waves from space for decades. In addition to being a proven means of studying stars, galaxies, quasars and …
TelescopesAstronomers discover exoplanet where a year lasts four-and-a-half hours
The Earth-sized exoplanet is in a high-speed orbit around its star.<p>Known as EPIC 228813918 b, the exoplanet orbits the m-dwarf star in less than four and a half hours, making one day the equivalent of more than five years.<p>"We report the discovery from K2 of a transiting terrestrial planet in an …
AstronomySurvive on this planet and you could live to be 150,000
Astronomers have located a second exoplanet where a year lasts less than the run time of half a season of "Game of Thrones."<p>Forget the Iron Islands from "Game of Thrones." If you're looking for some truly desolate corners of our non-fiction universe, there are two bizarre iron <i>planets</i> you should …
AstronomyGuam eyes end to US colonial rule
GUAM - As Guam prepares to celebrate Liberation Day this week, political leaders on the Pacific island say it's time to decide whether to remain a US …
Planetary HabitabilityWatch out, TRAPPIST-1: We just found 20 new alien worlds
Just as astronomers were basking in the afterglow of the TRAPPIST-1 discovery, <b>an unexpected treasure trove of eight planetary systems with more than</b> …
AstronomyA new search for extrasolar planets from the Arecibo Observatory
The National Science Foundation's Arecibo Observatory and the Planetary Habitability Laboratory of the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo joined …
UniverseThis is the Tiniest Star Scientists Have Ever Seen
Astronomers have discovered the smallest star known to science: EBLM J0555–57Ab, about the size of Saturn, is 600 light-years from Earth.<p>Scientists have discovered the smallest star known to science; in fact, it is so tiny that it barely qualifies as a star. Called EBLM J0555–57Ab, it is only …
UniverseIs This The Exoplanet Where Life Will First Be Found?
It is good time to be an exoplanet hunter… or just an exoplanet enthusiast for that matter! Every few weeks, it seems, new discoveries are being …
Habitable ZoneScientists have just discovered the smallest star in the universe
By: PTI | London |<p>A star about the size of Saturn – the smallest ever measured – has been identified by astronomers. (Source: University of Cambridge)<p>…
UniverseI Built a Stable Planetary System with 416 Planets in the Habitable Zone - Facts So Romantic
When Frank Drake was a boy, growing up in 1930s Chicago, his parents, observant Baptists, enrolled him in Sunday School. By the time he was 8 years …
Habitable ZoneHidden Stars May Make Planets Appear Smaller
In the search for planets similar to our own, an important point of comparison is the planet's density. A low density tells scientists a planet is …
Habitable ZoneTwinkle, twinkle, littlest star: Universe's smallest star discovered
The smallest star ever recorded — one about the size of Saturn — has been discovered by a team of astronomers, according to a study released Tuesday.<p>With the unwieldy name of EBLM J0555-57Ab, the star is located some 600 light-years away in our Milky Way galaxy.<p>The star is probably as small as …
UniverseAstroboffins spot tiniest star yet – we guess you could call it... small fry
The tiniest star, similar in size to Saturn, has been discovered as part of an eclipsing binary system by a group of astronomers.<p>Codenamed EBLM …
UniverseY-type stars
Brown dwarf stars are failed stars. Their masses are so small, less than about eighty Jupiter-masses, that they lack the ability to heat up their …
AstronomyResearchers searching for signs of extraterrestrial life just got some very bad news
By using Earth and our sun as a reference, scientists have spent decades honing in on the conditions required for a planet to support life. The …
Planetary HabitabilityAnother bee in the beehive—Astronomers discover binary star in the NGC 2632 cluster
(Phys.org)—Astronomers have detected a new low-mass eclipsing binary star in an open cluster named NGC 2632, better known as the Beehive Cluster (or …
AstronomyA new scientific model studies whether liquid water can be maintained on planets in various conditions, and could be used to confirm the presence of vegetation on faraway worlds.
Credit: NASAThe discovery of the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system earlier this year generated quite a buzz among planet hunters and astrobiologists alike. …
Habitable Zone