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.

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Artist's illustration of the newfound exoplanet GJ 367b, which orbits its red dwarf host star once every 7.7 hours. GJ 367b is a rocky world that's much denser than Earth and similar in structure to Mercury. It probably has a large iron core.

Newfound rocky exoplanet has a year less than 8 hours long

By Mike Wall last updated

A newfound alien world could shed some light on one of the darkest and strangest corners of the exoplanet family tree.

This artist’s impression shows the exoplanet Proxima b, which orbits the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri. The double star Alpha Centauri AB appears in the image between the exoplanet and its star.

Could humanity send astronauts to Alpha Centauri like in 'Lost in Space'?

By Chelsea Gohd published

Will humans ever find themselves at home at Alpha Centauri?

An artist's depiction of a hot Jupiter orbiting its star.

This doomed alien planet has a year that lasts just 16 hours — it's only getting faster

By Meghan Bartels published

This bizarre world appears to be the second-hottest known exoplanet as well.

Artist’s illustration of an “eggshell planet,” a theorized type of rocky world that has an ultra-thin outer brittle layer and little to no topography.

Strange 'eggshell' exoplanets may have ultra-smooth surfaces

By Charles Q. Choi published

Strange, newly theorized "eggshell planets" may possess super-thin outer layers with ultra-smooth surfaces unlike those seen on any world to date, a new study reports.

The new algorithm can discover exoplanets in Kepler Space Telescope data more efficiently than human scientists.

AI discovers over 300 unknown exoplanets in Kepler telescope data

By Tereza Pultarova published

A new artificial-intelligence algorithm has discovered more than 300 previously unknown exoplanets in data gathered by the now defunct exoplanet-hunting telescope Kepler.

Seven earth-like planets make up the TRAPPIST-1 solar system.

The TRAPPIST-1 solar system not bombarded by space rocks like early Earth, study suggests

By Tereza Pultarova published

Earthlike planets that dance in sync around a nearby dim star couldn't have been bombarded by space rocks in their early formative years like our planet was, a study suggests.

A still from a new NASA video imagines what it would be like to kayak the lakes of Saturn's moon Titan.

Kayak on Titan? Soar past exoplanets? Epic new NASA video envisions future space travel

By Elizabeth Howell published

A new NASA video advertises a suite of its real-life missions as previewing yet more adventurous possible exploration.

This wide-field view of the sky Alpha Centauri star system and its surroundings was created from photographic images forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2. Image released Oct. 17, 2012.

Is there life at Alpha Centauri? New space telescope to seek out habitable planets around sun's neighboring star

By Tereza Pultarova last updated

A new space mission announced today (Nov. 16) will look for habitable planets in the Alpha Centauri system, our closest stellar neighbors.

illustration of an earth-like planet orbited by a moon with a star in the background

NASA needs a new telescope, ASAP, to find Earth's twin

By Nicoletta Lanese published

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine say that finding Earth-like worlds should be a priority.

A view of the Hubble Space Telescope in orbit. Hubble is one of NASA's four "Great Observatories," which launched between 1990 and 2003. The agency has been urged to start a new Great Observatories program, to help get big, powerful space telescopes off the ground more efficiently.

New era of 'Great Observatories' may be coming for NASA

By Mike Wall published

The four original Great Observatories, which launched between 1990 to 2003, provide a good example to follow.

An artist’s impression of an Earthlike exoplanet orbiting a star similar to our own sun.

Astronomers target habitable exoplanets, black holes and inclusivity as top priorities for next decade

By Mike Wall published

The newly released astronomy and astrophysics decadal survey flags the discovery and study of habitable exoplanets and the exploration of black holes and neutron stars as two top research priorities.

A direct image captured by the Subaru Telescope of the newfound exoplanet 2M0437b, a gas giant that circles a star 417 light-years from Earth. The extremely bright host star has been mostly removed by image-processing techniques; the four "spikes" are artifacts produced by the telescope's optics.

Newfound baby exoplanet photographed from more than 400 light-years away

By Elizabeth Howell published

An amazing new image shows one of the youngest alien worlds yet found, giving scientists more clues about how planets form.

An artist's impression of a giant impact in the nearby HD 17255 star system.

An alien planet lost its atmosphere to a giant impact

By Charles Q. Choi published

Astronomers may have for the first time detected evidence that a distant planet had its atmosphere partially blown away by a giant impact, a new study finds.

Artist's impression of an exoplanet transiting a red dwarf star.

Hidden exoplanets may trigger auroras on distant stars

By Charles Q. Choi published

Mysterious radio signals may blast out from auroras on distant stars triggered by hidden planets, a new study finds.

This artist’s illustration shows a nightside view of the exoplanet WASP-76b. The giant exoplanet has a dayside where temperatures climb above 4,350 degrees Fahrenheit (2,400 degrees Celsius), high enough to vaporize metals. Strong winds carry iron vapor to the cooler nightside where it condenses into iron droplets.

Bizarre, scorching exoplanet WASP-76 b may be even hotter than we thought

By Mike Wall published

The 'ultrahot Jupiter' exoplanet WASP-76 b may be hotter than scientists had thought — and that's really saying something.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket launches the Landsat 9 satellite to orbit from Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, on Sept. 27, 2021.

Cubesats to study Earth's magnetosphere and exoplanets launch with Landsat 9

By Elizabeth Howell published

Two cubesats designed to study the Earth's magnetic field and to look for exoplanets around nearby stars rode to space Monday (Sept. 27) with NASA's new Landsat 9 Earth observation mission.

Artist’s impression of exoplanet WASP-127b .

Astronomers reveal strange clouds on 'fluffy' alien planet WASP-127b

By Daisy Dobrijevic published

Astronomers reveal WASP-127b's clouds are unlike any found on Earth.

An artist's depiction of planets forming from the disk around the young star GM Aurigae.

Scientists chip away at secrets of planet formation, origin of life in bevy of new research

By Meghan Bartels published

A whopping 20 new scientific papers use data gathered by a host of radio dishes perched high in the Chilean desert to tease apart the mysteries of how planets form.

An artist's depiction of a brown dwarf.

Strange brown dwarf 'The Accident' hints at possible treasure trove of cosmic anomalies

By Samantha Mathewson published

A citizen scientist's lucky discovery of an eccentric brown dwarf illustrates the tantalizing borderline between stars and planets.

sun-like stars

A quarter of sunlike stars eat their own planets, according to new research

By Lorenzo Spina published

How rare is our solar system? In the 30 years or so since planets were first discovered orbiting stars other than our sun, we have found that planetary systems are common in the galaxy.