News tagged with habitable zones

Astronomers identify three extrasolar planets

(Phys.org) -- It's not little green men, but it could be a step in that direction: Cornell astronomers, using data from the NASA Kepler Mission, have identified three Earthlike planets orbiting their own suns, all of which ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Apr 26, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (7) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

'Tidal Venuses' may have been wrung out to dry

Earth-sized exoplanets within a distant star’s habitable zone could still be very much uninhabitable, depending on potential tidal stresses — either past or present — that could have "squeezed ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Mar 29, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1

Is it snowing microbes on Enceladus?

There's a tiny moon orbiting beyond Saturn's rings that's full of promise, and maybe -- just maybe -- microbes.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Mar 28, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (12) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Many billions of rocky planets in the habitable zones around red dwarfs in the Milky Way

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new result from ESO’s HARPS planet finder shows that rocky planets not much bigger than Earth are very common in the habitable zones around faint red stars. The international team estimates ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Mar 28, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (18) | comments 37 | with audio podcast

Super-Earth unlikely able to transfer life to other planets

While scientists believe conditions suitable for life might exist on the so-called "super-Earth" in the Gliese 581 system, it's unlikely to be transferred to other planets within that solar system.

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Mar 20, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (14) | comments 7 | with audio podcast

Space image: Compact planetary system

(PhysOrg.com) -- This artist's concept depicts a planetary system so compact that it's more like Jupiter and its moons than a star and its planets. Astronomers using data from NASA's Kepler mission and ground-based ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Mar 15, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Do moons of gas giants affect the habitable zone?

(PhysOrg.com) -- If you aren’t familiar with the Drake Equation, or how it may actually apply to exomoons, continue reading to learn more about the famous equation. Additionally, what conditions could ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Mar 07, 2012 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (9) | comments 16 weblog

Extending the habitable zone for red dwarf stars

Scientists have long thought that planets had to orbit very close to small and dim red dwarf stars in order to be warm enough for life. New research challenges that assumption.

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Feb 24, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (12) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

New super-earth detected within the habitable zone of a nearby star

(PhysOrg.com) -- An international team of scientists has discovered a potentially habitable super-Earth orbiting a nearby star. With an orbital period of about 28 days and a minimum mass 4.5 times that of ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Feb 02, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (37) | comments 47 | with audio podcast

Elements of ExoPlanets

By looking at the wavelengths of light from nearby stars, researchers have determined the abundance of certain elements for more than a hundred stars. Trace elements in such stars may influence their habitable ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Feb 02, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Could 2012 be the year we find extraterrestrial life?

Last year came to an exciting end with the discovery of an Earth-like planet, Kepler-22b, orbiting a sun-like star outside of our solar system. It was found by NASA’s Kepler mission and is the first planet ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Jan 19, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (8) | comments 1

Goldilocks moons

The search for extraterrestrial life outside our Solar System is currently focused on extrasolar planets within the ‘habitable zones’ of exoplanetary systems around stars similar to the Sun. Finding ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Jan 16, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (10) | comments 1

A wealth of habitable planets in the Milky Way

An international team has used the technique of gravitational microlensing to measure how common planets are in the Milky Way.

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Jan 11, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (29) | comments 102 | with audio podcast

Scientists searching for Earth-type planets should consider two-star system, researchers say

(PhysOrg.com) -- A group of astrophysicists from The University of Texas at Arlington plans to expand the discussion about a newly discovered planet orbiting two stars by presenting a study suggesting where ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Jan 09, 2012 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (4) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

Kepler finds first earth-size planets beyond our solar system

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Kepler mission has discovered the first Earth-size planets orbiting a sun-like star outside our solar system. The planets, called Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f, are too close to their star ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 20, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (33) | comments 61 | with audio podcast