Alien Planets

The 1995 discovery showed that the sun isn't the only star to host a family of planets — something we had long figured but never demonstrated — and also that the universe is really, really weird.

Right now, it's a solar system known only by the designation HD 17156. Before 2019 ends, it will bear an entirely different second moniker — perhaps one suggested by you.

These are the top space stories this week from Space.com.

The smaller a planet, the more difficult it is to spot — which is frustrating for scientists hoping to find Earth-like worlds.

NGTS-10b is a very weird world.

The Nobel Prize in physics this year has gone to two very different research threads — and danced around some big societal issues, even as they celebrate distinguished work.

The Nobel Prize in physics has been awarded to three scientists for unraveling the structure and history of the universe and for changing our perspective of Earth’s place in it.

The first serious exomoon candidate is likely the captured core of a baby giant planet, if the exotic world does indeed exist, a new study suggests.

Alien worlds resembling giant eyeballs might be able to host life, but they may not be as common as previously suggested, a new study finds.

Astronomers have discovered a giant, Jupiter-like planet in an unexpected location, and it's orbiting a small, nearby red dwarf star, a new study finds.

Astronomers have identified a half dozen exoplanets that may be made of an exotic form of matter unknown on Earth.

Water vapor, and likely clouds that rain liquid water, have been discovered on an exoplanet that lies in the habitable zone of its star. But there's an issue.

The alien planet K2-18 b would be a truly exotic vacation destination.

NASA's repurposed spy telescope is ready for the next stage of development.

Scientists have detected water vapor in the atmosphere of exoplanet K2-18 b.

Astronomers are finding more and more alien worlds that may be capable of supporting Earth-like life, but none of them so far are carbon copies of our home world.

In a major first, scientists have detected water vapor and possibly even liquid water clouds on a strange exoplanet that lies in the habitable zone of its host star about 110 light-years from Earth.

Scientists may have found a volcanic world on the verge of destruction, where the chances of finding life are highly unlikely.

If HR 5183 b were magically dropped into our solar system, the planet's orbit would reach inside that of Jupiter but extend way out beyond the path of Neptune.