Exoplanets

Astronomers have long wondered how Earth became water-rich—bountiful with abyssal oceans, frigid glaciers and rain that pours from the sky into lakes, rivers and wetlands. Water, which is composed of the first and third most common elements in the universe, is a deceptively simple molecule to form. Yet while the details of its delivery to rocky planets like our own may be essential for understanding life’s cosmic prevalence, they remain mostly unknown.Water is a potent medium for the assembly of complex organic molecules…

Flat Earth? More like flat Jupiter. New research suggests that gas giants like Jupiter may actually start off much flatter during their formation phase. A new paper featured in Astronomy and Astrophysics Letters details the findings, including highlighting how the researchers came to their conclusions.The most widely accepted theory for planetary formation is the theory of “core accretion.” This model says that dust particles slowly collide and form into larger groups, progressively growing larger and larger.…

When I write or give public talks about exoplanets—alien worlds orbiting other stars—the most common question I’m asked is, “When will we find another Earth?”It’s a good question. As we’re learning, space is filled with a great many wildly differing worlds, and it’s natural to wonder if there’s an Earth 2.0 out there, or if they’re all truly, well, alien.Our Milky Way galaxy harbors hundreds of billions of stars. Given our census of local stars showing that planets occur at least as often as stars there could be trillions…

An amusing rendition of the TOI-1136 system if each body in the system were a duck or duckling. Credit: Rae Holcomb/UCISix-exoplanet system offers glimpse into planet formation and evolution.With an arsenal of advanced technology, scientists have found a multi-planet star system that provides a rare insight into the way planets form and behave around a young star.TOI-1136 is a dwarf star in the Milky Way galaxy more than 270 light-years from Earth, which is considered nearby, as the Milky Way is 100,000 light years in…

Astronomers using Hubble have detected water vapor in the atmosphere of GJ 9827d, a small exoplanet, suggesting the presence of water-rich atmospheres on similar planets. This discovery marks a significant step in exploring the composition and evolution of exoplanetary atmospheres. credit: SciTechDaily.comSteamy World Could Be a Sample of Water-Rich Planets Throughout Our GalaxyThe search for life in space goes hand-in-hand with the search for water on planets around other stars. Water is one of the most common molecules…

Astronomers have discovered over 5,500 worlds out there in the great unknown. And yet, they continue to baffle and surprise us. The latest surprise comes in the form of exoplanet WASP-69B, a planet with a 350,000-mile-long comet-like tail flowing behind it.Slightly larger than Jupiter, WASP-69b is what astronomers often refer to as a hot Jupiter. It’s less dense than our solar system’s largest gas giant and orbits its star in just 3.9 Earth days. While WASP-69b might be one of the most common types of exoplanet,…

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…

Few questions are more intriguing than the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe. But since aliens are not visiting our planet, and we are not going to their faraway homes any time soon, indirect evidence for the existence of biology on distant worlds is our best bet for answers.The problem is that planets and moons are not just much tinier but also much dimmer than their host stars, making their direct observation extremely challenging. Fortunately, creative astronomers have devised observational methods that…

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…

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…