Exoplanets
Latest about Exoplanets
![A red orb toward the top left of the screen and an Earth-looking world toward the bottom right.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/3kFZeeVoNk3vy3HmLrgrF7-320-80.png)
NASA space telescope finds Earth-size exoplanet that's 'not a bad place' to hunt for life
By Robert Lea published
NASA exoplanet-hunter TESS has found a temperate, Earth-size world in the habitable zone of its red dwarf star. This planet could make waves in the search for life.
![An illustration of a red and yellow run in the top left of the screen. Three worlds are seen toward the right of the screen, two of which have leaking atmospheres.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/q246x5XRGgB2zQUg5nmAaB-320-80.png)
Stars give tiny planets a gravitational 'squeeze' to strip away their atmospheres
By Robert Lea published
Modeling distant planets has revealed that tidal forces generated by their parent stars can combine with intense radiation bombardment and strip away their atmospheres.
![An illustration shows the atmosphere of the Jupiter-sized exoplanet V1298 Tau b being stripped away transforming it into a super-Earth sized world](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/pAw5rHLogC6rT6YX8UX87M-320-80.png)
Young 'cotton candy' exoplanet the size of Jupiter may be shrinking into a super-Earth
By Robert Lea published
Astronomers have found that one of the lightest exoplanets ever seen, the young 'cotton candy' world V1298 Tau b, may be shrinking from the size of Jupiter to the width of a super-Earth.
![a gathering of pink and blue gasses in the center takes the shape of a butterfly with its wings spread, all against the black of space with a few blurry stars smattered about.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/6FMwftfR4WmXHnDEagEgq8-320-80.jpg)
Cosmic butterfly or interstellar burger? This planet-forming disk is the largest ever seen
By Keith Cooper published
A distant planetary nursery is breaking all records as it shows the extremes to which planet formation can go.
![An illustration of the "cotton candy" planet WASP-193b](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/xfBNNm2QL635JHujd9cWn8-320-80.png)
Cotton candy exoplanet is 2nd lightest planet ever found
By Robert Lea published
"The planet is basically super fluffy."
![A gray exoplanet in space near a red dwarf star toward the top right. A flare erupts off the star.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Cmh9szNANbpT4sRhYt9D65-320-80.png)
Earth-size planet discovered around cool red dwarf star shares its name with a biscuit
By Robert Lea published
Astronomers have discovered an Earth-size planet orbiting a red dwarf star, making just the second planetary system seen around one of these tiny, cool, dim, but common, stars.
![a fiery planet hovers near an enormous fiery star](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Zw9oPjzVi5zdiEYEeWwcV3-320-80.jpg)
The surface of this volcanic exoplanet is hotter than some stars
By Keith Cooper published
Described as being like "Io on steroids," a newly discovered exoplanet is the victim of a tug of war between its neighboring planets and its star.
![A reddish orange planet with what look like charred edges is seen next to a giant star, slightly offscreen.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mFY3fUFmAB9gthkigd95tD-320-80.png)
This diamond exoplanet lost its atmosphere — then it grew another
By Robert Lea published
55 Cancri e is a super-Earth planet that appears composed of diamond-like carbon — now, thanks to the JWST, astronomers have found the world has "grown" a second atmosphere.
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