Alien Planets

An astronomer proposes that the sun-like star 2MASS 19281982-2640123 is the origin of the Wow! Signal

China could soon begin its first space-based hunt for exoplanets.

Scientists suggest that one of the key characteristics of a life-supporting, rocky exoplanet is that it needs to be young enough to generate heat through radioactive decay.

Using the sun's gravitational field as a giant magnifying glass could enable astronomers to observe distant exoplanets in a much greater detail than is currently possible.

Thirty alien comets have been spotted transiting the young star Beta Pictoris, their long tails lighting up the skies of the fledgling planets forming there.

An analysis of hundreds of hours of observations by the Hubble Space Telescope revealed what makes some exoplanets incredibly hot.

Finding alien worlds in distant solar systems is a delicate task.

In new research, we have spotted a hot, Jupiter-like gas giant in the process of forming around a star about 500 light-years from Earth.

Since astronomers began finding exoplanets in the 1990s, they've uncovered a lot of hot Jupiters, and now NASA's most venerable telescope is playing meteorologist.

NASA's Kepler space telescope has spotted a Jupiter look-alike in a new discovery, even though the instrument stopped operations four years ago.

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.

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

Astronomers have detected at least three small stars masquerading as exoplanets, new research shows.

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

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.

The finding comes from a fresh analysis of old data from NASA's Dawn spacecraft, which finished its mission in 2018.

A ground-based telescope's detection of a known Tatooine-like planet could herald new discoveries of similar planets, researchers say.

Finding more and more exoplanets to study has, as we might have expected, widened our understanding of what a planet is.

In a new study scientists have found that that, on the hot Jupiter exoplanet WASP-121 b, the clouds are made of metal and liquid rubies and sapphires rain down from the sky.