Exoplanet news, features and articles
Latest about Exoplanets

How the Nobel Prize-Winning Exoplanet Was Found
By Paul Sutter published
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.

Humans Will Never Live on an Exoplanet, Nobel Laureate Says. Here's Why.
By Yasemin Saplakoglu published
Here's the reality: We're messing up the Earth and any far-out ideas of colonizing another orb when we're done with our own are wishful thinking.

Scientists Find a Boiling, Toxic Wasteland of an Exoplanet, and It's Shaped Like a Football
By Rafi Letzter published
This first-of-its-kind discovery reveals a new category of ultrahot exoplanet, one so thoroughly cooked that your cast-iron skillet would bubble, turn to gas and boil out of the atmosphere.

NASA's New Exoplanet-Hunting Telescope Has Spotted Its Tiniest Alien World Yet
By Rafi Letzter published
NASA's new exoplanet-hunting telescope has discovered its smallest planet yet: a world somewhere between the sizes of Earth and its smaller sister, Mars.

The Great Exoplanet Bake-Off: Why NASA Made an Oven-Fresh Alien Atmosphere in Its Lab
By Brandon Specktor published
NASA scientists cooked up an alien atmosphere in their lab to solve the puzzle of "hot Jupiters."

Here's How a Huge Exoplanet Very Close to Earth Could Hide Strange Forms of Life
By Rafi Letzter published
There's a rocky planet in our stellar neighborhood that's very big and cold. However, scientists argue, it might still hold life.

Scientists Are '99 Percent' Sure There's a Huge Exoplanet Very Close to Our Solar System
By Brandon Specktor published
Scientists think there's a giant new planet full of frozen water, and it's right down the cosmic street from Earth.

Exoplanet Hunters Have a New Plan to Spot Hidden 'Migrating' Worlds
By Rafi Letzter published
There's a telescope that can see thick rings of dust in distant star systems. And researchers want to use its data in a new way to spot hidden and migrating exoplanets.
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