Search Results for: exoplanet
- Astronomy
Beyond Galileo’s universe
Four hundred years ago, astronomy embraced all that was visible. For Galileo, looking through his primitive telescope, the vistas included jewel-like stars, mountains on the moon, moons orbiting Jupiter and the glow of comet tails. Today astronomy is often about what cannot be seen. Astronomers have known for decades that stars and galaxies are mere […]
By Ron Cowen -
- Space
Smallest known transiting planet discovered
Astronomers have found the smallest known extrasolar planets that is blocking light from its parent star. The discovery could help reveal information about the structure of planets that may resemble Earth.
By Ron Cowen - Astronomy
In the Beginning: More early clues for life at home, out there
Astronomers move closer to understanding how life arose on Earth and how it could arise elsewhere.
By Ron Cowen - Space
Searching for superEarths
Astronomers are exploring a new family of planets beyond the solar system.
By Ron Cowen - Earth
The Hunt for Habitable Planets
For years, planet hunters have been preoccupied with hot Jupiters—giant, gaseous planets that tightly hug their sunlike parent stars. These massive, close-in planets, not yet directly seen, are the easiest to find because they induce the largest wobble in the motion of the stars they orbit. But now astronomers are following a rockier road—seeking rocky, […]
By Ron Cowen - Space
Extrasolar planetary system makes pictorial debut
The first images of a planetary system beyond the solar system are released, while the Hubble Space Telescope snaps a shot of likely planet orbiting a nearby star.
By Ron Cowen -
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- Astronomy
Bloated planet
A newly discovered exoplanet is the largest and lowest-density such object yet found.
By Ron Cowen - Astronomy
ExtraSolar
Astronomers hope that new tools will enable them to capture the first image of one of the 300 known planets orbiting distant stars.
By Ron Cowen - Astronomy
Otherworldly triple play
Astronomers have discovered the first known system of three superEarths beyond the solar system.
By Ron Cowen