Related topics: planets

The Drake Equation revisited: An interview with Sara Seager

Planet hunters keep finding distant worlds that bear a resemblance to Earth. Some of the thousands of exoplanet candidates discovered to date have similar sizes or temperatures. Others possess rocky surfaces and support atmospheres. ...

Exoplanets 20/20: Looking back to the future

Geoff Marcy remembers the hair standing up on the back of his neck. Paul Butler remembers being dead tired. The two men had just made history: the first confirmation of a planet orbiting another star.

Armchair astronomers find planet in quadruple star system

(Phys.org)—A joint effort of citizen scientists and professional astronomers has led to the first reported case of a planet orbiting twin suns that in turn is orbited by a second distant pair of stars.

Uranus' moon Umbriel

The 19th century was an auspicious time for astronomers and planet hunters. In addition to the discovery of the Asteroid Belt that rests between Mars and Jupiter – as well as the many minor planets within – the outer ...

How to learn a star's true age

(PhysOrg.com) -- For many movie stars, their age is a well-kept secret. In space, the same is true of the actual stars. Like our Sun, most stars look almost the same for most of their lives. So how can we tell if a star is ...

Amateur scientists find niche in locating new planets

Over the past decade, scientists have found evidence of hundreds of planets orbiting stars outside our solar system. A group of volunteers has also joined the search, and they have found several additional planets that initially ...

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