Alien Planets

An alien planet that orbits a star other than our sun is referred to as an "exoplanet." Learn more about the types of alien planets, including exoplanets and extrasolar planets, and get the latest news.

Latest Updates

A visualisation of the Trappist-1b exoplanet.

James Webb Space Telescope finds no atmosphere on Earth-like TRAPPIST-1 exoplanet

By Tereza Pultarova published

New measurements by the James Webb Space Telescope found that a rocky exoplanet orbiting a star known as TRAPPIST-1 most likely has no atmosphere.

This artist's illustration conceptualizes the swirling clouds identified by the James Webb Space Telescope in the atmosphere of exoplanet VHS 1256 b. The planet is about 40 light-years from Earth and orbits two stars that are locked in their own tight rotation.

James Webb Space Telescope spies hot, gritty clouds in skies of huge exoplanet with 2 suns

By Briley Lewis published

JWST just peered directly into the atmosphere of the giant exoplanet VHS 1256 b and found a roiling world with turbulent clouds made of silicates, similar to sand here on Earth.

This artist's illustration shows a water-rich world orbiting a binary star.

How much water lurks beneath an exoplanet's surface? New tool could help astronomers tell

By Robert Lea published

A new method could allow astronomers to assess exoplanets' likely subsurface water stores, aiding the search for worlds capable of supporting life as we know it.

a small planet beside a violent star

Bad news for alien life? Even calm red dwarf stars rage more violently than the sun

By Robert Lea published

Even quiet red dwarfs are prone to extreme outbursts that put our sun to shame, with significant implications on the search for alien life.

An artist's depiction of ESA's CHEOPS telescope at work studying exoplanets.

Europe's exoplanet-hunting CHEOPS mission extended through 2026

By Robert Lea published

The European Space Agency’s exoplanet-investigating spacecraft CHEOPS has had its mission extended until at least 2026.

The luminous, hot star Wolf-Rayet 124 (WR 124), which lies about 15,000 light-years from Earth, is prominent at the center of this James Webb Space Telescope composite image, which combines near-infrared and mid-infrared wavelengths of light from Webb's Near-Infrared Camera and Mid-Infrared Instrument. NASA released this image on March 14, 2023.

Exoplanets, dark matter and more: Big discoveries coming from James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers say

By Keith Cooper published

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has dazzled us plenty already, but the best is yet to come from the observatory, mission team members say.

a planet orbits close to its star, causing its atmosphere to dissolve away

Newly discovered 'mini-Neptune' may have an ocean or an atmosphere - but not for long

By Robert Lea published

A newly discovered distant mini-Neptune planet may possess its own atmosphere, ocean, or a combination of the two, even if they don't last for long.

an illustration of an alien planet orbiting a bright star

Sorry, Spock, but planet Vulcan's real-life doppelgänger doesn't exist

By Elizabeth Rayne published

A real-life version of Spock's home exoplanet in the 'Star Trek' universe has turned out to be nothing more than fiction.

A dark planet passes in front of a bright red star.

Massive 'forbidden planet' orbits a strangely tiny star only 4 times its size

By Robert Lea published

A newly discovered "forbidden" Jupiter-sized planet orbiting a tiny star only four times its size could challenge theories of how gas giants are born.

An artist's interpretation of what Planet Nine might look like.

Elusive Planet Nine could be surrounded by hot moons, and that's how we'd find it

By Harry Baker published

The mysterious Planet Nine may have up to 20 moons that could be superheated by the hypothetical planet's gravitational pull, making them easy to spot.

An exoplanets about four times larger than Jupiter can be seen toward the upper left corner of this image taken by the Very Large Telescope in Chile.

Very Large Telescope photographs its lightest ever exoplanet

By Tereza Pultarova published

The Very Large Telescope in Chile took images of its lightest exoplanet yet after data from two European sky-mapping missions indicated something was tugging at the orbit of a distant young star.

An artist's illustration of a hot, Neptune-size alien planet.

Why are there so few 'hot Neptune' exoplanets?

By Elizabeth Rayne published

There's apparently a dearth of close-orbiting Neptune-size planets in our galaxy, and two observation techniques are starting to explain why.

graphic illustration of planets in a goldilocks zone or habitable zone around a host star.

Goldilocks zone: Everything you need to know about the habitable sweet spot

By Vicky Stein published

Reference The Goldilocks zone or habitable zone is the region around a star where an orbiting planet could host liquid water and, therefore, possibly support life.

Active regions on the Sun combined to look something like a jack-o-lantern’s face on Oct. 8, 2014. The active regions appear brighter because those are areas that emit more light and energy — markers of an intense and complex set of magnetic fields hovering in the Sun’s atmosphere, the corona.

'Starspots' could improve our understanding of habitable zones

By Robert Lea published

A new technique to measure starspots could help test stellar magnetism theories and improve our understanding of habitable zones.

An artist's rendering of HD 219134b, another "local" Earth-sized exoplanet that could be similar to the newly discovered world K2-415b.

Earth-size exoplanet spotted just 72 light-years away

By Stefanie Waldek published

The newfound exoplanet K2-415b is not within the habitable zone of its red dwarf host star, but it could have a neighbor that is.

An illustration of a star slowly evaporating an orbiting planet's atmosphere.

Puffy helium planets could explain exoplanet size mystery

By Keith Cooper published

Gaseous planets close to their star could see their hydrogen atmospheres evaporate, leaving behind helium that could be detected by the James Webb Space Telescope.

An artist's depiction of Wolf 1069 b.

Astronomers discover potential habitable exoplanet only 31 light-years from Earth

By Laurence Tognetti published

Wolf 1069 b offers a unique opportunity to study a potentially habitable and tidally locked exoplanet.

Artist's depictions of exoplanets.

Tricky alien worlds easier to find when humans and machines team up

By Briley Lewis published

A combination of citizen science and machine learning is a promising new technique for astronomers looking for exoplanets.

Exoplanets circling around the star HR8799 in an animation still.

Exoplanets dance around distant star in stunning 12-year timelapse (video)

By Elizabeth Howell published

A new video shows us 12 years in the lives of orbiting exoplanets, crunched down to just a few dramatic seconds.

Artist's depictions of what rocky exoplanets might look like.

Astronomers can't wait to search for signs of life and massive black-hole mergers

By Briley Lewis published

From black holes to the search for life, scientific breakthroughs are on the horizon as new observatories come online.