Tagged: alien planets

A new method for analyzing the chemical composition of stars may help scientists winnow the search for Earth 2.0. Yale University researchers Debra Fischer and John Michael Brewer, in a new study that will appear in the Astrophysical Journal, describe a computational modeling technique that...

NASA has discovered an exoplanet with three stars, one with a bizarre orbit that has left astronomers baffled. The planet, known as KOI-5Ab was discovered in 2009 by NASA’s Kepler space telescope, but it was “abandoned” by scientists because the space telescope had easier candidates...

Astronomers have caught four dying stars in the act of chowing down on rocky alien planets similar to Earth, a destructive cosmic process that may one day play out in our very own solar system, a new study reveals. Evidence of the distant celestial meals...

Earth-like planets with severe tilts and orbits could enter abrupt “snowball states,” in which entire oceans freeze and surface life cannot survive, according to new research. Researchers at the University of Washington (UW) have found a new reason why, just because a planet is located...

Astronomers have discovered 41 new alien planets in one sweep by analyzing how each world gravitationally yanks on its neighbors. The newly confirmed exoplanets were spotted by NASA’s prolific Kepler space telescope, which has detected more than 2,300 potential alien worlds since its March 2009...

A photo may be worth 1,000 words, but a new depiction of NASA’s Kepler mission is worth 1,235 potential alien planets. Created by a devoted mission scientist, the image takes stock of the Kepler observatory’s prolific planet-hunting results so far. The illustration (see the full...

Stellar storms, or eruptions of material that are regularly spewed into space by stars, could help scientists search for potentially habitable environments on alien planets, according to a new study. Most stars, including the sun, produce explosions on their surfaces that spit powerful particles out...

If you’ve read a few news stories about alien planets over the last decade and a half, you’re probably familiar with Lynette Cook’s work. Cook has been illustrating newfound exoplanets since 1995, when she drew 51 Pegasi b, the first alien world ever discovered around...

This is one of the most exotic alien planets, which fascinated astronomers more than a decade ago. Twice the size of Earth – and named “55 Cancri e” – is 26 times closer to its parent star than Mercury is to the Sun. 55 Cancri...