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Trappist exoplanets

The 10 most Earth-like exoplanets

By Elizabeth Howell, Ailsa Harvey last updated

Reference Scientists have found nearly 5,000 exoplanets since the first such world was confirmed orbiting a sunlike star in 1995. These ones are most similar to Earth.

Reference
In March 2022, NASA confirmed the discovery of the 5,000th exoplanet.

5,000 exoplanets! NASA confirms big milestone for planetary science

By Elizabeth Howell last updated

It took 30 years to find so many alien worlds, but the pace of discovery is accelerating.

A screenshot from a video showing the Mars moon Phobos crossing the face of the sun. NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover captured the video on April 2, 2022, with its Mastcam-Z camera. You can also spot a group of sunspots on the left.

Wow! Perseverance rover captures gorgeous video of solar eclipse on Mars

By Elizabeth Howell published

The tiny Mars moon Phobos looms large on the sun's face in dramatic eclipse footage captured by NASA's Perseverance rover.

NASA's Mars rover Perseverance has arrived at the ancient river delta that once existed on the floor of Jezero Crater. The rover took this image on April 16, 2022.

Perseverance rover arrives at ancient Mars river delta

By Elizabeth Howell published

Perseverance just reached the remains of an ancient Red Planet river delta, a set of layered rocks that has long been the life-hunting rover's main science target.

As this sign outside of Nevada’s infamous Area 51 military base reminds would-be visitors, guards are authorized to respond to trespassers with deadly force.

Nearly 200K People Have Signed Up to Steal Alien Secrets from Area 51 in Late-Summer Raid

By Brandon Specktor last updated

More than 200,000 Facebook users say they're interested in joining a raid on Nevada's infamous Area 51 air base this summer.

The reported effects of UFO encounters include nightmares, perceptions of levitation, and "unaccounted for pregnancy."

UFOs left 'radiation burns' and 'unaccounted for pregnancies,' new Pentagon report claims

By Brandon Specktor published

1,500 pages of UFO related research has been declassified by the US government following a FOIA request by The Sun

Is cloud-veiled Venus an abode for extraterrestrial life?

New wave of missions to reignite Venus exploration

By Leonard David published

Multiple research teams are developing missions designed to address Venus' potential as an abode for life.

Area 51 sign on fence in the Nevada Desert.

Area 51: What is it and what goes on there?

By Robert Lea published

Reference Area 51 is a U.S. military base that has become synonymous with tales of UFOs, government cover-ups and potentially testing alien technology.

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The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) in southwest China's Guizhou Province.

Is it time to send another message to intelligent aliens? Some scientists think so.

By Stephanie Pappas published

Scientists have crafted a new message for intelligent extraterrestrials

An image of Pluto taken by the New Horizons probe in 2015 with evidence for potential cryovolcanism marked in blue.

Ice volcanoes on Pluto may still be erupting

By Rebecca Sohn last updated

An area of Pluto that researchers think was formed from the eruption of ice volcanoes is unique on the dwarf planet and in the solar system, a new study suggests.

An artist's depiction of an exoplanet with a methane-rich atmosphere.

NASA's new James Webb Space Telescope will be able to sniff out methane. Here's how to tell if it's a sign of life.

By Stefanie Waldek last updated

The first whiff that humans catch of life beyond Earth might be methane, but scientists will need to tread carefully before declaring a discovery based on the chemical.

An artist's depiction of a rocket launching Mars samples off the planet's surface for the journey to Earth.

Perseverance rover's Mars samples now won't make it to Earth until 2033 at best

By Mike Wall published

The NASA-ESA campaign to haul Mars samples back to Earth will require two Red Planet landers instead of one. The change will delay the arrival of samples here by two years, to no earlier than 2033.

This circular structure seen in Google Earth images off the coast of Peru is raising cries of "UFO."

Odd circular shape beneath the ocean in Google Earth images is probably not aliens

By Stephanie Pappas published

A circular shape on the seafloor visible on Google Earth is raising cries of "UFO," but chances are … it's not aliens.

This artist's impression shows a close-up view of Proxima d, a planet candidate recently found orbiting the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our solar system. The planet is believed to be rocky and to have a mass about a quarter that of Earth. Two other planets known to orbit Proxima Centauri are visible in the image, too: Proxima b, a planet with about the same mass as Earth that orbits the star every 11 days and is within the habitable zone, and candidate Proxima c, which is on a five-year orbit around the star.

What would an alien 'Earth' look like around the star next door?

By Chelsea Gohd published

In a new study, researchers predict what an alien "Earth" could really look like, and how it could evolve (if one exists).

Perseverance's collection system on Mars, photographed as the rover captured its eighth Red Planet sample in March 2022.

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover nabs 8th rock sample on the Red Planet

By Elizabeth Howell last updated

NASA's top-notch Red Planet geology rover is moving on to explore an ancient river delta now that its eighth rock sample is secured for future analysis.

This artist’s illustration shows what Mars would look like with liquid water.

Could Mars ever have supported life? This NASA challenge wants your help to find out

By Elizabeth Howell published

A new competition with HeroX asks for innovative ways to analyze data gathered on the Red Planet.

Artist’s impression of the white dwarf star WD1054–226 orbited by clouds of planetary debris and a major planet in the habitable zone.

An Earthlike planet may be orbiting in a dead star's 'habitable zone'

By Elizabeth Howell published

Planetary debris, including some objects the size of moons, may hint at a rocky exoplanet within the habitable zone of a dead star, a new study suggests.

NASA's Mars rover Perseverance rover has collected its seventh Red Planet rock sample, seen here in a photo taken on March 7, 2022.

NASA's Mars rover Perseverance snags 7th Red Planet rock sample

By Mike Wall published

Perseverance just socked away another Martian rock sample, the seventh that it has collected since landing on the Red Planet in February 2021.

An artist's depiction of a planet progressing through four stages of intelligence.

Should we be looking for intelligence on a planetary scale?

By Matt Williams published

According to new research led by the University of Rochester, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) should be broadened to look for signs of "planetary intelligence."

An artist's depiction of a rocky, Earth-size exoplanet. We haven't found any planets exactly as habitable as Earth, but some planets might be even better for life than ours: superhabitable worlds.

Superhabitable planets: Alien worlds that may be more habitable than Earth

By Charles Q. Choi published

Two dozen so-called superhabitable alien worlds may be as good as or better than Earth for life as we know it.