Exoplanet

Star Fomalhaut has dusty little secret – two more debris belts and a potential planetary party

Nearby system was thought to have an exoplanet, but that was wrong. Now NASA says there may be multiple

Science09 May 2023 | 8

Metal-rich stars inhibit chances of life on their planets

They give off less UV, but more is absorbed by their planets’ atmospheres, boffins tell life hunters

Science19 Apr 2023 | 21

Smallsats + solar sails = Photos of exoplanets at 1970s digital camera resolution

Sundiver spacecraft could snap the first surface pics using solar lens

Science19 Apr 2023 | 54

The years fly by on first exoplanet confirmed by James Webb Space Telescope

LHS 475 b same size as Earth, rocky, but hotter, and so close to its star it orbits in 2 days

Science12 Jan 2023 | 7

JWST snaps first chemical profile of an exoplanet atmosphere

We knew Wasp 39b was rich in CO₂, but now we have the full molecular picture

Science23 Nov 2022 | 43

White dwarf study suggests planets are as old as their stars

Scientists have long been unsure of the 'when' of planetary formation – but that question may have been answered

Science17 Nov 2022 | 16

We've seen things you people wouldn't believe. A planet, dense as a marshmallow, that would float on water

Weird puffy gas giant circles red dwarf

Science21 Oct 2022 | 20

Boffins spot baby planet forming around young star – and that's rather cool

In dust, we trust

Science15 Sep 2022 | 20

James Webb Space Telescope finds first evidence of CO2 in exoplanet atmosphere

This same tech could someday help us discover strange, new – and habitable – worlds

Science26 Aug 2022 | 23

Alien life on Super-Earth can survive longer than us due to long-lasting protection from cosmic rays

Laser experiments show their magnetic fields shielding their surfaces from radiation last longer

Science15 Jan 2022 | 83

Massive rugby ball-shaped planet emerges from scrum of space 'scope sightings

It was worth a try

Science12 Jan 2022 | 41

Pack your bags – we may have found the first planet outside of our galaxy

Alas, we will have to wait 70 years to confirm the sighting

Science28 Oct 2021 | 37

Astroboffins reckon they've detected four hidden exoplanets by probing distant radio waves

It could help us find more exoplanets far out in the universe

AI + ML12 Oct 2021 | 10

We've seen things you people wouldn't believe. An exoplanet building its own moons

Pic 400 light-years away, satellites are forming

Science23 Jul 2021 | 33

Good: Water vapor signal detected for first time on distant planet. Bad: Er, we'll let one of the boffins explain

Hey, look, it's the galaxy's Florida

Science29 Apr 2021 | 30

We're on our way already: Astroboffins find 5 potentially habitable Tatooine-like systems from Kepler 'scope

Perhaps gigantic puffy exoplanets aren't as hostile to life as previously thought

Science16 Apr 2021 | 24

Habitable-zone exoplanet potentially spotted just around the corner in Alpha Centauri using latest telescope technique

Space is about to look a lot clearer, thanks to adaptive optics

Science11 Feb 2021 | 65

Don't give up on Planet Nine yet: Hubble 'scope finds just such a world a mere 336 light-years away

Massive planets at far out distances from their stars are possible after all

Science11 Dec 2020 | 26

Pack your bags! Astroboffins spot 24 'superhabitable' exoplanets better than Earth at supporting complex life

Just a short 100 or more light years away

Science06 Oct 2020 | 72

Looking for a new hobby to kill the COVID-19 blues? Join NASA's Planet Patrol to hunt for alien worlds

Video You, over there, rustle up a warp drive while we're finding a new galactic pad

Science01 Oct 2020 | 7

Brit uni's AI algorithm clocks 50 exoplanets hidden in Kepler space 'scope archives

Machines are just better at finding alien worlds than us humans

AI + ML26 Aug 2020 | 8

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe – because we used astrometry: A Saturn-like world hugging its star

Mexico, US boffins used technique 'for the first time' with ground-based radio 'scopes to spot exoplanet

Science04 Aug 2020 | 4

'First ever' snap emerges of something vaguely resembling our solar system 300 ly away. We'll take 10 tickets

Pic and video Gassy giants make Jupiter look like an absolute tiddler

Science23 Jul 2020 | 32

With intelligent life in scant supply on Earth, boffins search for technosignatures of civilizations in the galaxy

Pollution, sprawling cities of megastructures, any sign aliens are screwing up just like us...

Science22 Jun 2020 | 48

Looking for a home off-world? Take your pick: Astroboffins estimate there are nearly 6bn Earth-likes in the Milky Way

Getting to them is, however, quite another kettle of fish

Science17 Jun 2020 | 53

The little CubeSat that could: Launched from space station, ASTERIA is smallest satellite to detect an exoplanet

Let's head that way. Doesn't matter if there's no intelligent life on it – there's none here, either

Science03 Jun 2020 |

Fomalhaut b exoplanet may have been cloud in a trench coat: Massive 'world' formed after 'mid-space super-prang'

Another one bites the dust

Science21 Apr 2020 | 12

ESA's exoplanet hunter Cheops gets the green light to start checking out future spots mankind could settle on

Not boldly seeking out new worlds, mostly checking out the ones we know

Science16 Apr 2020 | 5

Kepler telescope is dead but the data lives on: Earth-sized habitable zone planet found after boffins check for errors

300 light years away but hey, why not?

Science16 Apr 2020 | 13

Good luck pitching a tent on exoplanet WASP-76b, the bloody raindrops here are made out of molten iron

Raining irooooon, from a lacerated sky

Science11 Mar 2020 | 59

If you're struggling to keep new year resolutions, try NGTS-10b, a mere 1,000 LY away. One year is just 18 hrs

Happy birthday to me... Happy birthday to me... Happy birthday to me... Happy birthday to me... Happy birthday to me... Happy birthday to me...

Science21 Feb 2020 | 18

Pack your bags! NASA's latest exoplanet hunter satellite finds its first Earth-sized world in a habitable zone – and it's only 100 light years away

Vid TESS also spots Tatooine-alike

Science08 Jan 2020 | 23

No, Illyrian, Naqaỹa, Mastika, Automex aren't Hollywood's hottest baby names – they're new monikers for exoplanets

The IAU brandishes 112 new names for the star systems and its exoplanets to celebrate its 100 year anniversary

Science18 Dec 2019 | 9

A trio of boffins scoop the Nobel Prize in physics for the first exoplanet discovery and big bang model

James Peebles gets half, Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz each bag a quarter

Science08 Oct 2019 | 6

Astroboffins baffled after spotting solar system with great gas giant that shouldn't exist

Back to the drawing board folks

Science27 Sep 2019 | 50

First water world exoplanet spotted – and thankfully no sign of Kevin Costner, rejoice!

Red Dwarf solar system too far away for a jaunt on Starbug

Science12 Sep 2019 | 50

Neptune-sized oddball baffles astroboffins: It has a good atmosphere despite star-lashing

First gas giant spotted in the so-called 'Neptunian Desert'

Science30 May 2019 | 28

Three planets and two stars adds up to one research team made very happy by Kepler's unique discovery

Dead telescope keeps on giving

Science17 Apr 2019 | 32

What a smashing time, cheer astroboffins: Epic exoplanet space prang evidence eyeballed

Kepler 107c is way too beefy for its own good

Science07 Feb 2019 | 16

Astroboffins spy a rare exoplanet evaporating before their eyes

*Okay so it will be here for another billion years or so but it's shrinking faster than normal

Science14 Dec 2018 | 41

Goodnight Kepler! NASA scientists lay the exoplanet expert to rest as it runs out of fuel

Exoplanet telescope out, and Opportunity in its last rites

Science30 Oct 2018 | 36

Finally, a use for AI and good old-fashioned simulations: Hunting down E.T. in outer space

Targeted ads, coming to a galaxy nowhere near you

AI + ML19 Oct 2018 | 5

Astroboffins spot the first perfect exoplanet free of clouds

Without a shadow of a doubt WASP-96b has the clearest atmosphere yet

Science08 May 2018 | 7

Astroboffins score a first by spotting traces of helium on an exoplanet

The second most abundant element has proven surprisingly hard to detect

Science03 May 2018 | 8

Want to make a super-earth? Bring on the frikking lasers

Dum dum dum dede dum dum, under pressure

Science27 Apr 2018 | 12

Hello DARKNESS, my old friend. I've come to talk with you again... about a 10,000-pixel alien-hunting camera

A vision softly creeping... of an exoplanet or two

Science18 Apr 2018 | 29

Is there alien life out there? Let's turn to AI, problem solver du jour

Is there nothing neural networks can't do? Wait, don't answer that

AI + ML05 Apr 2018 | 20

Oh bucket! Unpack the suitcases. TRAPPIST-1 planets too wet to support life

System may be full of waterworlds, boffins find

Science21 Mar 2018 | 48

16 exoplanets found huddled around 12 lightweight stars

One of the 'super-Earth' finds might even have liquid water

Science12 Mar 2018 | 16

For all we know, aliens could be as careless with space junk as us

Astroboffin suggests scanning exoplanets for xenocrap in orbit

Science08 Mar 2018 | 44

Inviting nearby exoplanet revealed as radiation-baked hell

Proxima Centauri b roasted by colossal solar flare, probably not for the first time

Science28 Feb 2018 | 44

Sigh. It's not quite Star Trek's Data, but it'll do: AI helps boffins clock second Solar System

Kepler-90 has same number of planets as our Sun

Science15 Dec 2017 | 19

How is 55 Cancri e like a Sisters of Mercy gig? Astroboffins: It has atmosphere

*No, mate. Just no* New model throws spanner in exoplanet debate

Science20 Nov 2017 | 34

Hubble catches a glimpse WASP-12b, an almost pitch-black exoplanet

Black planet, black world

Science14 Sep 2017 | 22

Cancel your summer trip to nearby Proxima b. No chance of life, room service, say boffins

It's cold outside, there's no kind of atmosphere ... I'm all alone

Science02 Aug 2017 | 44

PLATO mission to find alien life is given the thumbs up

ESA to start the construction of space telescope network

Science22 Jun 2017 | 21