exoplanet

The graphic shows the diamond rain inside the planet, which consists of diamonds sinking through the surrounding ice. Pressure and temperature continuously increase on the way deeper inside the planet. Even in extremely hot regions, the ice remains due to the extremely high pressure. Credit: European XFEL / Tobias WüstefeldA new study reveals that “diamond rain” on icy planets like Neptune and Uranus forms under less extreme conditions than previously believed. This phenomenon influences the planets’ internal dynamics and…

Artistic concept of the exoplanet WASP-107b and its parent star. Even though the rather cool host star emits a relatively small fraction of high-energy photons, they can reach deep into the planet’s fluffy atmosphere. Credit: Illustration: LUCA School of Arts, Belgium/ Klaas Verpoest (visuals), Johan Van Looveren (typography). Science: Achrène Dyrek (CEA and Université Paris Cité, France), Michiel Min (SRON, the Netherlands), Leen Decin (KU Leuven, Belgium) / European MIRI EXO GTO team / ESA / NASAObservations with JWST’s…

Astronomers analyzed HAT-P-18 b using the James Webb Space Telescope, revealing water vapor and CO2 in its atmosphere. They highlighted the challenges of distinguishing between atmospheric and stellar signals, suggesting that star spots significantly influence data interpretation. (Artist’s concept.) Credit: SciTechDaily.comAstronomers used the JWST to study the atmosphere of the exoplanet HAT-P-18 b, finding water vapor and CO2 while emphasizing the impact of the host star’s characteristics on data analysis.Led by…

The Webb Space Telescope has spotted something weird: a brown dwarf with what appear to be aurorae, what we Earthlings sometimes call the Northern Lights. What makes the observation particularly surprising is that the brown dwarf doesn’t have a nearby star that could cause such an aurora.Webb Telescope Images the Pillars of CreationAurorae on Earth happen when particles from the Sun interact with gasses in our planet’s atmosphere, along the lines of Earth’s magnetic field. Other planets in our solar system sport aurorae;…

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft captured this image of Enceladus on November 30, 2010. The shadow of the body of Enceladus on the lower portions of the jets is clearly visible. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science InstituteA NASA study suggests 17 exoplanets could harbor life-supporting oceans under ice, with potential geysers driven by internal heating. This research, comparing these exoplanets to Europa and Enceladus, enhances the search for life in the universe.A NASA study expands the search for life beyond our solar…

Astronomers have detected dynamic weather activities, such as massive cyclones, on the uninhabitable exoplanet WASP-121 b using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. This discovery, crucial for studying distant planetary weather, is enabled by detailed observations and advanced computational models. Credit: NASA, ESA, Quentin Changeat (ESA/STScI), Mahdi Zamani (ESA/Hubble)Stormy weather on display on a “hot Jupiter”The Jupiter-sized planet WASP-121 b is no place to call home. For starters, it orbits very close to a star that is…

The city of Lexington, Kentucky, appears so tired of being overlooked by humankind that it has sent a formal invitation to the next-best thing: alien life that may or may not exist in a nearby star system.Will You Click Windows’ New Copilot Button?It’s a tourism stunt, but the message is very real. The invitation, beamed out last fall via infrared laser toward the TRAPPIST-1 star system, is a project by the Lexington tourism bureau (yeah, we’re sending ads to aliens now). According to VisitLEX, they worked with engineers,…

A new scientific method identifies habitable planets by comparing atmospheric CO2 levels, suggesting that lower CO2 indicates the presence of liquid water and potential life. This groundbreaking research, applicable with current telescopes, offers new prospects in the search for life beyond Earth. Credit: SciTechDaily.comScientists discover new way to identify liquid water on exoplanets.Atmospheric CO2 levels hold the key to finding habitable planets and potentially life itself.Scientists have devised a new way to…

Researchers from MIT and the University of Birmingham (UB) believe that they've cracked the formula for detecting habitable planets using currently available technology. It all has to do with an exoplanet's levels of carbon dioxide and ozone.There's been a lot of talk about how rising levels of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere is contributing to global warming, but the fact is that our planet has a remarkably low level of the gas compared to other, less habitable worlds like Venus. A whopping 96.5% of that…

This artist’s impression shows a gas giant exoplanet orbiting a sun-like star, exemplified by Kepler-1625b. Credit: NASADiscovery of giant exomoons around the planets Kepler-1625b and Kepler-1708b called into question.Just as it can be assumed that the stars in our Milky Way are orbited by planets, moons around these exoplanets should not be uncommon. This makes it all the more difficult to detect them. So far, only two of the more than 5300 known exoplanets have been found to have moons. A new data analysis now…