The search for exoplanets – planets orbiting other stars – has really ramped up in recent years, with new telescopes, both space and ground-based, being launched, built and on the drawing board. Those efforts have already discovered thousands of exoplanets, both confirmed and additional candidates. …
Exoplanets – planets orbiting other stars – have been found by the thousands now, with many more to come. But what about exomoons? So far there haven’t been any confirmed yet, and they are much more difficult to detect, but that may change soon. A …
Read MoreHubble and Kepler telescopes may have just found the first exomoon, 8000 light-years away
We often hear the term “habitable” next to the word exoplanets. Which exoplanets are habitable; that is, which are capable of supporting life? But how do scientists determine that? Are there different kinds of habitability? Rice University announced on September 17, 2018 that – to …
Of all the exoplanets being discovered these days, some of the most exciting – if not the most – are those that might be Earth-like. Astronomers are finding a growing number of rocky worlds, about the size of Earth or a bit larger. Some orbit …
Read MoreRoss 128 b and the search for Earth-like exoplanets
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) in Washington, D.C., just released a new congressionally mandated report that aims to guide scientists’ study of exoplanets in the years to come. Among other things, the report urges NASA to lead a comprehensive direct imaging mission …
Read MoreReport calls for direct images of Earth-like exoplanets
As more and more exoplanets are discovered, with 3,779 confirmed so far plus 2,737 additional candidates, the focus is shifting from merely finding exoplanets to understanding them. To that end, planetary astrophysicist Natalie Hinkel of the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in San Antonio, Texas, has developed a …
For the first time, astronomers have caught a baby planet in the process of growing. This isn’t just a newly developing planet, located in a gap in a star’s disk of primordial dust and gas. That’s been done before. This is direct evidence that such a …