Exoplanet systems as a research area investigate the formation, architecture, dynamics, and physical properties of planetary systems orbiting stars other than the Sun, integrating observational, theoretical, and computational approaches. The field encompasses detection techniques (e.g., transits, radial velocities, direct imaging, microlensing), characterization of planetary masses, radii, atmospheres, and orbits, and statistical studies of population demographics as functions of stellar type, metallicity, and environment. It also addresses disk–planet interactions, migration processes, multi-planet dynamics, and stability, with implications for planet formation theories, comparative planetology, and the occurrence and potential habitability of terrestrial and giant planets in diverse stellar contexts.
An international team of astronomers reports the discovery of a new giant exoplanet around an M-dwarf star (GEMS). The newfound GEMS, designated TOI-5573 b, is comparable in size to Saturn and its mass is estimated to be ...
Tracking exoplanets via orbital mechanics isn't easy. Plenty of variables could affect how a planet moves around its star, and determining which ones affect any given exoplanet requires a lot of data and a lot of modeling.
Astronomy
May 20, 2025
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Exoplanets—planets that orbit stars beyond our solar system—have transformed our understanding of the universe. Since the first confirmed discovery in the 1990s, more than 5,000 have been identified, ranging from scorching ...
Planetary Sciences
May 16, 2025
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A team of researchers has recently claimed they have discovered a gas called dimethyl sulfide (DMS) in the atmosphere of K2-18b, a planet orbiting a distant star.
Astrobiology
May 15, 2025
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Is frozen water scattered in systems around other stars? Astronomers have long expected it is, partially based on previous detections of its gaseous form, water vapor, and its presence in our own solar system.
Astronomy
May 14, 2025
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An international planet hunt spearheaded by Monash University researchers has discovered evidence of five new baby planets, so young they are still growing.
Astronomy
May 14, 2025
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We tend to think of habitability in terms of individual planets and their potential to host life. But barring outliers like rogue planets with internal heating or icy moons with subsurface oceans created by tidal heating, ...
Planetary Sciences
May 12, 2025
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Most astronomers agree that life is likely common throughout the universe. While Earth is the only world known to have life, we know that life arose early in our world, and the building blocks of life, including amino acids ...
Astrobiology
May 12, 2025
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An international team of astronomers reports the discovery of two new exoplanets, a few times more massive than Earth, orbiting a sun-like star known as HD 35843. The finding was reported in a research paper published May ...
The solar gravitation lens (SGL) has much potential as a telescope. This point in space, located about 650 AU away from the sun, uses fundamental properties of physics to amplify the light from extremely far-away objects, ...
Astronomy
May 6, 2025
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