Super-Earths as a research area encompasses the observational, theoretical, and modeling investigations of exoplanets with masses and radii larger than Earth’s but smaller than those of ice giants like Neptune. Work in this field focuses on internal structure and composition (rocky, water-rich, or volatile-dominated), atmospheric retention and chemistry under varying irradiation regimes, and formation and migration pathways in protoplanetary disks. It integrates high-precision radial-velocity and transit surveys, atmospheric spectroscopy, planetary interior modeling, and population statistics to constrain mass–radius relationships, habitability potential, and comparative planetology frameworks for understanding planetary diversity.
Patches of the sun's surface often show strong magnetic fields. These fields can emerge within a matter of hours, and can decay slowly or quickly, sometimes over days, weeks, or even months. Thanks to a new study about these ...
Astronomy
Mar 16, 2026
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A study led by the University of Oxford has identified a new type of planet beyond our solar system—one that stores large amounts of sulfur deep within a permanent ocean of magma. The findings have been published in Nature ...
Astronomy
Mar 16, 2026
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Using the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), astronomers have discovered a new super-Earth exoplanet orbiting a star located about 83 light years away. The newfound alien world is slightly larger than Earth and ...
Up until now, exoplanet surveys have mostly focused on nearby, bright stars that are sun-like or are red dwarfs, which are known to frequently host planets. While astronomers have discovered thousands of planets this way, ...
In 2020, a study confirmed that two planets orbited the nearby red dwarf, GJ 887. Now, astronomers have confirmed the existence of two additional planets orbiting GJ 887 in a new study published in Astronomy and Astrophysics. ...
Using HARPS and HARPS-N spectrographs, astronomers have observed a nearby K-type star designated HD 176986, known to host two super-Earth exoplanets. The observations resulted in the discovery of another planet in the system ...
Deep beneath the surface of distant exoplanets known as super-Earths, oceans of molten rock may be doing something extraordinary: powering magnetic fields strong enough to shield entire planets from dangerous cosmic radiation ...
Astrobiology
Jan 15, 2026
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Thanks to the discovery of thousands of exoplanets to date, we know that planets bigger than Earth but smaller than Neptune orbit most stars. Oddly, our sun lacks such a planet. That's been a source of frustration for planetary ...
Astronomy
Jan 7, 2026
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A Carnegie-led team of astronomers detected the strongest evidence yet of an atmosphere around a rocky planet beyond our solar system. Their work, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, used NASA's JWST to reveal ...
Astronomy
Dec 28, 2025
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Researchers using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have detected the strongest evidence yet for an atmosphere on a rocky planet outside our solar system.
Astronomy
Dec 11, 2025
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