exoplanets

NASA’s TESS exoplanet-hunting space telescope wraps up primary mission 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- August 12, 2020
66 confirmed exoplanets, 2,100 candidates and the search goes on.

By David Aragorn
Radio Astronomers Discover Saturn-Sized Exoplanet around Ultracool Dwarf 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- August 6, 2020
Astronomers using NSF’s Very Long Baseline Array, a continentwide system of 10 radio telescope antennas located between Hawaii and Puerto Rico, have detected a giant exoplanet in orbit around the ultracool dwarf TVLM 513-46546 (TVLM 513 for short). This is the first astrometric detection of a planet at radio wavelengths. The presence of this Saturn-like planet on a close circular orbit around tiny star represents a challenge to the current planet formation theory.

By David Aragorn
Solar systems could have a large number of planets that are home to alien life, study finds 0
- Earth Mysteries
- August 4, 2020
Other solar systems could have large numbers of planets that are home to alien life, a new study has found.

By David Aragorn
Astronomers Directly Image Two Giant Exoplanets around Young Sun-Like Star 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- July 24, 2020
Astronomers using the SPHERE (Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet Research) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have discovered a second planetary-mass companion orbiting TYC 8998-760-1, a 16.7-million-year-old solar-type star previously known to host one giant planet. The researchers have also managed to directly image this multi-planet system.

By David Aragorn
Scientists find ‘lost’ planet in breakthrough that could help us discover alien life 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- July 23, 2020
World was spotted by Nasa telescopes – but then disappeared, until now

By David Aragorn
A newfound exoplanet may be the exposed core of a gas giant 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- July 2, 2020
A planet about 734 light-years away appears to be missing most of its atmosphere

By David Aragorn
Planets around nearby star are intriguing candidates for extraterrestrial life 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- June 27, 2020
Up to three planets – potentially rocky like Earth – have been spotted around a star located relatively near our solar system – a planetary system offering astronomers intriguing possibilities in the search for signs of extraterrestrial life.

By David Aragorn
π-Earth: Newfound Earth-Sized Exoplanet Orbits Its Star in 3.14 Days 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- June 18, 2020
Using data from NASA’s Kepler/K2 mission, the SPECULOOS telescopes and the High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer (HIRES) on the Keck I telescope at W.M. Keck Observatory, astronomers have discovered a transiting Earth-sized planet in a close-in orbit around the red dwarf EPIC 249631677.

By David Aragorn
Astronomers Confirm Two Planets in Proxima Centauri System 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- June 16, 2020
Astronomers have finally confirmed the existence of two exoplanets — Proxima b and c — orbiting Proxima Centauri, the Sun’s closest stellar neighbor and one of the best-studied low-mass stars.

By David Aragorn
Planet-Hunters Discover Incredibly Rare Super-Earth – “One in a Million”0
- From Around the Web, Space
- May 14, 2020
Astronomers at the University of Canterbury (UC) have found an incredibly rare new Super-Earth planet towards the center of the galaxy. The planet is one of only a handful that have been discovered with both size and orbit comparable to that of Earth.

By David Aragorn