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New Images Shows Earliest Stages of Planet Formation
Combined ALMA/VLA image of HL Tau. CREDIT: Carrasco-Gonzalez, et al.; Bill Saxton, NRAO/AUI/NSF. New images of a young star made with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) reveal what scientists...
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Most eccentric planet known flashes astronomers with reflected light
An artist’s rendering shows the planet HD 20782, the most eccentric planet ever known, passing its star in close orbit. SF State Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy Stephen Kane is the lead...
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Investigating the Mystery of Migrating ‘Hot Jupiters’
The turbulent atmosphere of a hot, gaseous planet known as HD 80606b is shown in this simulation based on data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech The last decade has seen a...
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Laser cloaking device could help us hide from aliens
A 22W laser used for adaptive optics on the Very Large Telescope in Chile. A suite of similar lasers could be used to alter the shape of a planet’s transit for the purpose of broadcasting or cloaking...
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New Tool Refines Exoplanet Search
An artist’s conception of an exoplanet courtesy of NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech Planet-hunting is an ongoing process that’s resulting in the discovery of more and more planets orbiting distant stars. But as...
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1917 astronomical plate has first-ever evidence of exoplanetary system
You can never predict what treasure might be hiding in your own basement. We didn’t know it a year ago, but it turns out that a 1917 image on an astronomical glass plate from our Carnegie...
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Lone Planetary-Mass Object Found in Family of Stars
A young, free-floating world sits alone in space in this illustration. The object, called WISEA J114724.10?204021.3, is thought to be an exceptionally low-mass “brown dwarf,” which is a star that...
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Could Earth’s light blue color be a signature of life?
The iconic “pale blue dot” image of Earth taken by the Voyager 1 spacecraft, from a distance of 3.7 billion miles in 1990. Earth is the speck halfway down the brownish streak to the right. The streaks...
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Three Potentially Habitable Worlds Found Around Nearby Ultracool Dwarf Star
Astronomers using the TRAPPIST telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory have discovered three planets orbiting an ultracool dwarf star just 40 light-years from Earth. These worlds have sizes and...
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‘Starspot’ images give insights into early sun
Astronomers have taken a close-up timelapse image of the fast-rotating star zeta Andromedae. Starspots can be seen clearly. Credit: Rachael Roettenbacher, John Monnier, et al. Astronomers at the...
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MIT scientists compile list of potential gases to guide search for life on...
Credit: NASA A new approach intended to maximize the chances of identifying planets orbiting nearby stars that support life focuses on creating a comprehensive list of the molecules that might be...
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NASA’s Kepler Mission Announces Largest Collection of Planets Ever Discovered
This artist’s concept depicts select planetary discoveries made to date by NASA’s Kepler space telescope. Credits: NASA/W. Stenzel NASA’s Kepler mission has verified 1,284 new planets – the single...
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Quartet of exoplanets locked in complex dance
The University of Chicago’s Sean Mills (left) and Daniel Fabrycky describe the complex orbital structure of the Kepler-223 expolanetary system in the May 11 early online edition of Nature. Photo by...
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Hunting for hidden life on worlds orbiting old, red stars
Ramses Ramirez, left, and Lisa Kaltenegger hold a replica of our own habitable world, as they hunt for other places in the universe where life can thrive. Chris Kitchen/University Photo Searching vast...
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Astronomers find giant planet around very young star
Artist’s impression of a jupiter-like planet forming around a young star. NASA/JPL-Caltech In contradiction to the long-standing idea that larger planets take longer to form, U.S. astronomers have...
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Universe’s First Life Might Have Been Born on Carbon Planets
In this artist’s conception, a carbon planet orbits a sunlike star in the early universe. Young planetary systems lacking heavy chemical elements but relatively rich in carbon could form worlds made of...
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Likely new planet may be in slow death spiral
An artist’s impression of likely new giant planet PTFO8-8695 b, which is believed to orbit a star in the constellation Orion every 11 hours. Gravity from the newborn star appears to be pulling away the...
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New Planet Is Largest Discovered That Orbits Two Suns
Artist’s impression of the simultaneous stellar eclipse and planetary transit events on Kepler-1647. Credits: Lynette Cook If you cast your eyes toward the constellation Cygnus, you’ll be looking in...
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Unexpected excess of giant planets in star cluster
Artist’s impression of a hot Jupiter exoplanet in the star cluster Messier 67. Credit: ESO/L. Calçada An international team of astronomers have found that there are far more planets of the hot Jupiter...
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Where Is the Habitable Zone for M-Dwarf Stars?
Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will look for planets around close, bright stars. Credit: MIT While we know that yellow dwarf stars like our sun are capable of supporting life, there’s...
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