Exoplanets
- Planetary Science
Earth, neighbors weren’t the first rocky planets in the solar system
Jupiter might have swept an earlier generation of rocky planets into the sun, leaving room for Earth and its neighbors to form.
- Astronomy
Solo planets may be surprisingly common
Rogue planets may form as stars do, but on a smaller scale, or they may go forced out of orbit during planetary ping-pong. Researchers are scanning the skies for them.
- Astronomy
Super-Earths may form in two ways
Rocky planets much heavier than Earth may form in different ways.
- Astronomy
Planet collisions may have rearranged crowded solar systems
Solar systems discovered by Kepler with just one or two worlds may be remnants of planet families that were once far more crowded.
- Astronomy
Giant rings encircle young exoplanet
Stretching 90 million kilometers from their center, 37 stripes of dust around exoplanet were probably crafted by moons.
- Astronomy
Neptune-like worlds could become habitable
Mini-Neptunes can drift toward their stars and lose their atmospheres, leaving behind ice-rich rocky cores that can become watery worlds.
- Astronomy
Oldest solar system unearthed by Kepler
Five rocky planets orbit the 11.2-billion-year-old star Kepler 444, suggesting that Earth-sized worlds formed in the early universe.
- Astronomy
Rocky planets around cool stars may have Earthlike climates
Small, rocky planets that sit close to cool stars might be able to keep spinning, creating conditions hospitable to life.
- Astronomy
Large rocky planets excel at ocean building
Rocky planets a few times as massive as Earth may build deeper oceans – and sustain them for longer – than smaller worlds.
- Astronomy
Kepler telescope discovers another 554 possible planets
Extra year of Kepler telescope data adds 554 possible planets and eight confirmed ones that might be able to host life.
- Astronomy
Revived Kepler telescope finds first exoplanet
NASA’s Kepler space telescope finds its first planet — a possible super-Earth — since getting a second chance at life.
- Astronomy
Year in review: Kepler gets second chance at life
This year, Kepler engineers figured out how to stabilize the almost-defunct Kepler telescope, while astronomers found hundreds more worlds.
