Exoplanets

Complex life may be less resilient than microbial life by some measures, but it's not necessarily cosmically delicate

Our local gas giant has two more natural satellites added to its roster

The 7-planet system of TRAPPIST-1 is remarkable in many ways, including its size

Astronomers obtain convincing evidence of a potentially habitable world around our nearest neighboring star—this could change everything

What are some of the most intriguing and unexpected puzzles about the universe?

Can we connect the microscopic and macroscopic factors involved in starting life on a planet?

A new analysis of outer solar system orbits suggests that there really could be a hitherto unseen giant planet orbiting far from the sun—but what are the implications?

Campaigns to name exoplanets seem like Shakespearean farce

Interstellar travel may present some unforseen problems in this short fiction

Astronomers use Kepler telescope to study weather on Jupiter-size planets beyond our solar system

Scientists are finding liquid water, the cornerstone for life as we know it, in surprising nooks and crannies of the solar system. Following Wednesday's news that there seem to be hydrothermal vents churning away in the warm, alkaline seas inside Saturn's moon Enceladus, researchers announced airtight evidence yesterday that Jupiter's moon Ganymede also has a [...]

Astrobiology has one key advantage when it comes to tooting its own horn – it can lay claim to a diverse range of scientific research as being relevant to the study of life in the universe.