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.
Using the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), an international team of astronomers has detected a new warm Jupiter exoplanet located more than 1,000 light years away. The newfound alien world, designated TOI-2005 ...
What can Venus-like exoplanets, also known as exoVenuses, teach us about our own solar system and potentially finding life beyond Earth, and how can the planned Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) provide these insights?
Planetary Sciences
Mar 28, 2025
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All planets are made of gas, ice, rock and metal, and models of how planets form usually assume that these materials don't react chemically with each other. But what if some of them do?
Planetary Sciences
Mar 27, 2025
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Many protoplanetary disks in which new planets are formed are much smaller than thought. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) scientists of the Leiden Observatory (the Netherlands) looked at 73 protoplanetary ...
Astronomy
Mar 26, 2025
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The James Webb Space Telescope has directly observed the key chemical of carbon dioxide in planets outside of our solar system for the first time, scientists announced Monday.
Astronomy
Mar 22, 2025
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Florida Tech's Caldon Whyte is two years into a lengthy universe exploration to earn his Ph.D. in space sciences. After graduating with a Bachelor's degree in astrobiology in 2023, he's fascinated by white dwarf stars—the ...
Astrobiology
Mar 18, 2025
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Barnard's Star is a small, dim star of the type that astronomers call red dwarfs. Consequently, even though it is one of the closest stars to Earth, such that its light takes only six years to get here, it is too faint to ...
Astronomy
Mar 17, 2025
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A combination of cosmic processes shapes the formation of one of the most common types of planets outside of our solar system, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn State. The research team used data from NASA's ...
Astronomy
Mar 17, 2025
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The James Webb Space Telescope has captured its first direct images of carbon dioxide in a planet outside the solar system in HR 8799, a multiplanet system 130 light-years away that has long been a key target for planet formation ...
Astronomy
Mar 17, 2025
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611
Astrophysicists have once again enriched our knowledge of the cosmos with a new discovery: two small planets orbiting TOI-1453. Located at around 250 light years from Earth in the Draco constellation, this star is part of ...
Astronomy
Mar 14, 2025
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