Exoplanets once trumpeted as life-friendly may not exist

Spots on nearby star could have led to false planet detections

Gliese 581g, the planet in the foreground of this illustration, may not exist. A new study asserts that the star Gliese 581 (red) hosts only the three other depicted planets, all of which are too hot to sustain life.

Lynette Cook

Two planets considered among the most promising for life outside the solar system don’t exist, scientists report July 3 in Science.