Within just 50 light-years from Earth, there are about 1,560 stars, likely orbited by several thousand planets. About a thousand of these extrasolar planets—known as exoplanets—may be rocky and have a composition similar ...
Astronomy
Nov 5, 2019
0
85
Contrary to previous thought, a gigantic planet in wild orbit does not preclude the presence of an Earth-like planet in the same solar system—or life on that planet.
Astronomy
Nov 5, 2019
2
892
An exoplanet may seem like the perfect spot to set up housekeeping, but before you go there, take a closer look at its star.
Astronomy
Oct 31, 2019
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305
A top a dormant volcano in Hawaii, an extremely delicate instrument—designed to help scientists find distant worlds—is scattered across the floor in hundreds of pieces.
Astronomy
Oct 3, 2019
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18
I've said many times in the past that the Earth is the best planet in the universe. No matter where we go, we'll never find a planet that's a better home to Earth life than Earth. Of course, that's because we, and all other ...
Astronomy
Sep 25, 2019
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347
University of Washington astrobiologist Rory Barnes has created software that simulates multiple aspects of planetary evolution across billions of years, with an eye toward finding and studying potentially habitable worlds.
Astronomy
Sep 20, 2019
0
149
With more than 4,000 exoplanets—planets orbiting stars other than our sun—discovered so far, it may seem like we are on the cusp of finding out whether we are alone in the universe. Sadly though, we don't know much about ...
Astronomy
Sep 12, 2019
0
18
K2-18b, which is eight times the mass of Earth, is now the only planet orbiting a star outside the Solar System, or 'exoplanet', known to have both water and temperatures that could support life.
Astronomy
Sep 11, 2019
51
3541
In The Little Prince, the classic novella by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the titular prince lives on a house-sized asteroid so small that he can watch the sunset any time of day by moving his chair a few steps.
Astronomy
Sep 11, 2019
7
441
A team of researchers from several European countries and one from Chile has found evidence of three possibly habitable exoplanets circling the star GJ1061. In their paper uploaded to the arXiv preprint server, and soon to ...
