exoplanet – Page 6 – Astronomy Now

Red dwarf seen stripping atmosphere from Neptune-sized exoplanet

25 June 2015 Astronomy Now

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have discovered an immense cloud of hydrogen dispersing from a warm, Neptune-sized planet orbiting a nearby star. It may offer clues as to how hot super-Earths — massive, hot versions of Earth — are born around other stars.

Nonphotosynthetic pigments could be biosignatures of life on other worlds

23 June 2015 Astronomy Now

Researchers have found that if organisms with nonphotosynthetic pigments — those that process light for tasks other than energy production — cover enough of a distant exoplanet’s surface, their spectral signal could be strong enough to be detected by powerful future telescopes now being designed.

Habitable exomoons will need to be bigger than Mars

1 June 2015 Keith Cooper

Planet-sized moons orbiting huge gas giants could provide havens for life around other stars, but in order to be habitable these moons would need to be larger and more massive than Mars.

First evidence of volcanic activity on a super-Earth?

5 May 2015 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have detected wildly changing temperatures on a super-Earth — the first time any atmospheric variability has been observed on a rocky planet outside the Solar System — and believe it could be due to huge amounts of volcanic activity, further adding to the mystery of what had been nicknamed the ‘diamond planet.’

First visible light spectrum from exoplanet observed

22 April 2015 Kerry Hebden

The first ever direct detection of reflected light from an exoplanet, namely 51 Pegasi b, the first exoplanet ever discovered around a normal star, has been made by astronomers at the ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile.

Enormous planet found to be in a quadruple star system

7 March 2015 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have discovered the second known case of a four-star planetary system. The planet was known before and has a mass ten times that of Jupiter, but was thought to have only three parent stars, not four. The findings help researchers understand how multiple star systems can influence the development and fate of planets.

International Astronomical Union opens exoplanet naming contest

13 January 2015 Astronomy Now

The IAU opens the first ever contest allowing members of the public to name ExoWorlds, offering registered clubs and organisations the chance to nominate their favourite systems to take through to the next rounds.

NASA’s Kepler spacecraft proves it can still find planets

19 December 2014 Astronomy Now

When the primary mission of NASA’s Kepler spacecraft ended in May 2013 due to a failure of its stabilisation system, a team of scientists and engineers developed an ingenious strategy to control the spacecraft. The resulting second mission, K2, has a newfound planet — HIP 116454b