Exoplanets
Hubble Captures Blistering Pitch-Black Planet
Think of it as a kind of Vantablack planet<p>A pitch black planet that traps at least 94 percent of starlight entering its atmosphere has been …
AstronomyThe ExoLife finder telescope could revolutionize the search for life on exoplanets
A new revolutionary telescope is in the works that would lessen the cost of studying exoplanets, but it needs more funding to come to fruition.<p>Enter …
AstronomyPresence Of Atmosphere Around Exoplanets Linked To Their Size, Study Finds
A team of UCL-led European researchers have made an important breakthrough in the field of exoplanet classification.<p>Analysis of a group of 30 …
ResearchUK firm wins €42m contract to help hunt exoplanets
<b>Chelmsford-based Teledyne e2v has won a €42m European Space Agency (ESA) contract to develop highly sensitive light detectors for the upcoming PLATO</b> …
EngineeringAstronomers find a giant, black, glowing exoplanet
The extra-solar planet ("exoplanet") known as WASP-12b is perhaps the strangest world found yet. While known for almost a decade, astronomers …
ScienceThis scorching black exoplanet takes in all the light it can and gives almost nothing back
As black as day.<p><i>We have discovered a planet. It gathers in light from its sun, and refuses to let go. In return, the star strips away the planet’s atmosphere, slowly devouring it.</i><p>That's how the popular planet-inventing Twitter bot Newfound Planets , might describe this particular gaseous giant, …
SpaceSuper hot, really dark exoplanet 'eats' starlight - Futurity
Twice the size of Jupiter, a super hot, totally black exoplanet "eats" light rather than reflecting it, researchers say.
AstronomyIf Earth Was Even A Fraction Further From The Sun It Would Be Completely Unrecognisable
We don't realise how lucky we are.<p>Earth is already a statistical anomaly, something that at present shines out as a blip on the norm of space.<p>Well a …
Habitable ZoneNASA's Hubble spots "pitch black" planet lurking beyond our solar system
WASP-12b orbits a Sun-like star 1,400 light-years from Earth and is "black as fresh asphalt"<p>NASA's Hubble telescope has discovered an exoplanet that …
TechnologyScientists discover 3 new "Super-Earth" exoplanets
A Key to the Galaxy?<p>NASA’s Kepler space telescope — presently on its K2 mission — just made another major discovery, confirming the existence of …
AstronomyWe're lucky Earth isn't caught in a permanent Ice Age
If we were just a fraction further from the Sun, life on Earth would be very different... or probably non-existent<p>The Earth might be more special …
Ice AgeThe ExoLife Finder: A next-generation telescope for imaging exoplanets - Astronomy Magazine - Interactive Star Charts, Planets, Meteors, Comets, Telescopes
By Jake Parks<p>A few years back, a group of astronomers put forth a proposal for a beast of a telescope—The Colossus.<p>At 77 meters in diameter, the …
AstronomyThe exact age to get married if you want it to last
Most people have a target age in their head for when they want to be married – but what’s the best age to tie the knot if you want your marriage to …
LifestyleWhy This Exoplanet’s Hellish Atmosphere Is a Big Deal in the Search For Alien Life
By all accounts, the exoplanet known as WASP-19b is a pretty inhospitable place. As one of the closest known hot-Jupiters to its star—orbiting just …
UniverseThree Possible Super-Earths Discovered Around Nearby Sun-Like Star
Since it was launched in 2009, NASA’s <i>Kepler</i> mission has continued to make important exoplanet discoveries. Even after the failure of two reaction …
AstronomyEuropean scientists say this exoplanet, 1,000 light years away from Earth, has 'titanium skies'
According to reports, the atmospheric temperature of the planet named WASP-19b is around 2,000 Celsius<p>For the first time, researchers at the European …
AstronomyThis Bizarre Exoplanet Actually Sounds Like Hell
This is definitely NOT Earth 2.0 😳<p>The conditions on our home planet don’t always seem that favourable, but now astronomers have learned more about …
UniverseThe Closest Star To Our Sun Might Be An Imposter
A new study suggests that Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our Sun, may have been captured from elsewhere in the galaxy by its two companion …
AstronomyNASA's Will Use TESS To Discover Hundreds Of Exoplanets [Infographic]
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, is a spacecraft that will be launched sometime in 2018 that will take on a two-year mission to monitor more than 200,000 stars in an attempt to discover more exoplanets. TESS is the first spaceborne all-sky transit survey, meaning that the craft …
AstronomyCould aliens find Earth the same way we spot exoplanets?
You can tell a lot about a star by its twinkle. So far, thousands of exoplanets have been spotted orbiting distant stars, mostly by looking for …
AstronomyWhen the world is not enough: how to find another planet to live on
The seafaring explorers of the 16th century famously found many new homes for humanity in faraway, unknown corners of the world. While it may seem …
AstronomySuper-Earths a juicy target for new space telescope
Scientists have identified three ‘super-Earths’ that bridge a gap in our knowledge of exoplanets, writes Andrew Masterson.
AstronomyUltraviolet light key to life search, too?
Too little UV light, and life might not ever start. Too much, in the form dramatic UV flares from stars, and the atmospheres of orbiting planets …
SciencePlanet 9 Might Not Be an Exoplanet After All
But they still think it's out there.<p>Planet 9 probably isn't from another star, according to researchers from the UK and Switzerland.<p>According to a …
UniverseEarth Is Now a Hybrid Planet, According to This Strange New Classification
Thanks, Anthropocene.<p>Humanity's indelible impact on our home planet has marked the dawn of a whole new geological epoch, a sweeping change that could …
AnthropoceneNew Study Claims that TRAPPIST-1 Could Also Have Gas Giants
In February of 2017, NASA scientists announced the existence of seven terrestrial (i.e. rocky) planets within the TRAPPIST-1 star system. Since that …
AstronomyStellar Fingerprints
Examples of images of computer-predicted patterns of small portions on stellar surfaces: a tiny white-dwarf star (left) and a huge supergiant (right).<p>…
AstronomyPhysicists discover an "ozone layer" on distant exoplanet
The exoplanet WASP-121b has a stratosphere that absorbs radiation from the planet’s star.
UniverseAre we being watched? Tens of other worlds could spot the Earth
To look for worlds where civilisations would have the best chance of spotting our solar system, the astronomers looked for parts of the sky from …
AstronomyAliens could be spying on Earth from nine exoplanets
Research led by Queen’s University Belfast and the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany found nine exoplanets are ideally placed …
Astronomy