Exoplanets
Latest about Exoplanets
![An illustration shows a hot Jupiter planet tidal locked to its star resulting in blisteringly hot dayside and a cooler nightside.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/BjqSVKKHapjXVJQnpj5iWZ-320-80.png)
James Webb Space Telescope forecasts clouds of melted rock on this blisteringly hot exoplanet
By Robert Lea published
The JWST has performed a weather report for a distant hot Jupiter exoplanet, finding winds three times as fast as a jet fighter, clouds made of rock and temperatures hot enough to melt lead.
![A spacecraft is seen against a background of stars with a glowing brownish red orb.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/GRqWLGtRjN6CCsmv3gtHdd-320-80.png)
NASA's TESS exoplanet hunter may have spotted its 1st rogue planet
By Robert Lea published
NASA's exoplanet hunter TESS may have detected its first free-floating planet with a little help from Einstein.
![Two orbs to the right appear to have blasted away from a star in the distance.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/En5C6j2VVvQgpvD2tDXBPn-320-80.png)
The mystery of how strange cosmic objects called 'JuMBOs' went rogue
By Robert Lea published
Scientists may have discovered how JuMBOs, strangle binary objects found in Orion, may have gone rogue while staying gravitationally bound. The discovery may shake up theories of planet formation.
![An illustration of WASP-76b and the rainbow like glory effect in its atmosphere](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/QuLMTyuN9o2jYMSc6guoF6-320-80.png)
This hellish exoplanet's skies rain iron and create a rainbow-like effect
By Robert Lea published
The CHEOPS mission has seen tantalizing hints of the rainbow-like glory effect over WASP-76b, an extreme world where iron rains heavily on one side of the planet.
![a dark red fiery orb jets away from a burning yetllow star, ringed in plasma.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ifG9uaGvRi7HsdAaQwL9vb-320-80.jpg)
1 in 12 stars might have swallowed a planet
By Charles Q. Choi published
A new study suggests that stars may chomp on planets way more often than you'd expect.
![An illustration shows the egg-shaped planet WASP-12b on a death spiral towar its yellow dwarf parent star](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/teUbfLqDoaSqMThbK68A6d-320-80.png)
Doomed egg-shaped exoplanet is death-spiraling into its star
By Robert Lea published
WASP-12b, an ultrahot Jupiter planet molded into the shape of an egg, is set to nose-dive into its star.
![illustration showing a brownish, jupiter-like exoplanet in space, with its yellow host star in the background](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/3fQjRCU4y8n8NonYcSCzai-320-80.jpg)
As scientists find real exoplanets, sci-fi writers change their vision of alien worlds
By Keith Cooper published
The discovery of the first exoplanets was a watershed moment for both science and science fiction, which has attempted to keep pace with scientific knowledge of other worlds.
![Images of planet-forming disks in the Milky Way galaxy captured by the Very Large Telescope in Chile.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/o6LshhNHNGEEKkrj3gj7Co-320-80.jpg)
Stunning images from Very Large Telescope capture unique views of planet formation
By Tereza Pultarova published
Incredible images captured by the Very Large Telescope in Chile reveal unique insights into planet formation around young stars.
Get the Space.com Newsletter
Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!