Search Results for: exoplanet

Astronomy

New ideas on what makes a planet habitable could reshape the search for life

New definitions of “habitable worlds” could include planets with global oceans under a steamy hydrogen atmosphere or exclude ones that started out habitable but lost all their water.

Astronomy

The James Webb Space Telescope has reached its new home at last

The most powerful telescope ever launched still has a long to-do list before it can start doing science.

Astronomy

An otherwise quiet galaxy in the early universe is spewing star stuff

Seen as it was 700 million years after the Big Bang, the galaxy churns out a relatively paltry number of stars. And yet it’s heaving gas into space.

Chemistry

How rare earth elements’ hidden properties make modern technology possible

Because of their unique chemistry, the rare earth elements can fine-tune light for many different purposes and generate powerful magnetic fields.

Space

These discoveries from 2021, if true, could shake up science

Discoveries in 2021, from hidden subatomic particles to the oldest animal fossils, could shake up science. But more evidence is needed to confirm them.

Space

‘Oumuamua may be a chip knocked off an icy, Pluto-like exoplanet

If the first interstellar visitor were a shard of nitrogen ice, it would explain some of its unusual behavior when it passed through our solar system.

Space

A rush to watch a supernova exposed its last gasp before exploding

By studying the final years of stars, scientists hope to find clues to help them recognize when other stars are about to blow.

Space

Crushed space rocks hint at exoplanets’ early atmospheric makeup

Experiments that heat crushed-up meteorites are helping astronomers understand what to look for in exoplanet atmospheres.

Astronomy

How ‘hot Jupiters’ may get their weirdly tight orbits

Gravitational kicks from other planets and stars can send giant worlds into orbits that bring them close to their suns.

Planetary Science

How the laws of physics constrain the size of alien raindrops

Physics limits the size of raindrops, no matter what they’re made of or what planet they fall on.

Astronomy

Any aliens orbiting these 2,000 stars could spot Earth crossing the sun

Alien astronomers in those star systems could discover Earth the way we find exoplanets: by watching for a dip in starlight.

Astronomy

The tiny dot in this image may be the first look at exomoons in the making

New ALMA observations offer some of the strongest evidence yet that planets around other stars have moons.