Exoplanets

ExoplanetsSeptember 19, 2025

Astronomers’ Exoplanet Haul Tops 6,000 Alien Worlds

It’s a crowded galaxy, the latest exoplanet tally shows

Sarah Lewin Frasier

Illustration of a star with multiple flares and four small orbiting planets. Star is off center to the lower right, with a silhouetted planet to its lower right. A smaller planet is shown an inch to the left, also silhouetted. A third planet is directly to the left of the star, gray and white but without much detail, and farther out near the left edge of the image is the fourth planet, also gray with little detail

ExoplanetsSeptember 9, 2025

Hints of Atmosphere on Earth-Sized Exoplanet Raise Hopes for Life

A monumental sign of an atmosphere on TRAPPIST-1e could be the precursor to finally finding a living world around another star

Jonathan O'Callaghan

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Artistic impression of the Proxima Centauri system, with the planets Proxima b (in the distance) and Proxima d (in foreground), the latter confirmed by NIRPS

AstronomyAugust 26, 2025

New Instrument Checks on Proxima Centauri’s Planets

Fresh results from near-infrared instruments foretell a bright future for finding life elsewhere in the Milky Way

Ivan Farkas

Close up of comet 3I/ATLAS and its compact coma

AstronomyJuly 17, 2025

7 Big Mysteries about Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS

Scientists are racing to learn as much as possible about the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS before it fades from view forever

Jonathan O'Callaghan

An image of HOPS-315, a still-forming planetary system, as seen by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).

AstronomyJuly 16, 2025

Astronomers Witness an Alien Solar System’s Birth for the First Time

Observations of a baby star may show the earliest stages of planet formation that astronomers have ever seen

Lee Billings

In this artist’s impression, we see the planet HIP 67522 b sending a wave of energy down the magnetic field lines toward the surface of its host star, which it is closely orbiting. When the wave meets the end of the magnetic field line at the star’s surface, it triggers a massive flare

ExoplanetsJuly 2, 2025

Astronomers Found the Most Self-Destructive Planet in the Sky

This planet triggers flares on its star—spelling its ultimate doom

Jacek Krywko

Artist rendering of the Nancy Grace Roman Telescope in orbit, silhouetted in front of a vibrant purple field of space

AstronomyApril 18, 2025

NASA’s Next Major Space Telescope Is Ready to Launch. Trump Wants to Kill It and Other Vital Science

Amid harsh cuts, the Trump administration has proposed canceling the nearly ready-to-launch Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

Nadia Drake

The UniverseApril 4, 2025

How Many Rogue Planets Roam the Milky Way?

According to new simulations, many, even most, planets get ejected from their star early in their history

Phil Plait

This artist’s concept shows an exoplanet and debris disk orbiting a polluted white dwarf

The UniverseMarch 28, 2025

When Was the First Exoplanet Discovered?

Evidence of alien worlds goes back farther than you think

Phil Plait

Artist’s Illustration of Exoplanets Orbiting Barnard’s Star

ExoplanetsMarch 18, 2025

Newfound Exoplanets around Barnard’s Star Resolve Long-Standing Astronomical Quest

Four small, newly discovered worlds are less than six light-years away from Earth, and their discovery reinforces a cautionary tale from planet hunting’s prehistory

Tom Metcalfe

A close-in image of a protoplanetary disc around a newly formed star. Many different wavelengths of light are combined and represented by separate and various colours. A dark line across the centre is the disc, corresponding to the densest parts of the disc, made of opaque dust: the star is hidden in here and creates a strong glow in the centre. A band going straight up is a jet, while other outflows above and below the disc, and a tail coming off to one side

The UniverseFebruary 14, 2025

JWST Spies a Giant Space Hamburger—and Maybe Planetary Origins, Too

It’s neither fast nor food, but a spectacular object called HH 30 looks appetizing for astronomers in a new image from the James Webb Space Telescope

Phil Plait

exoplanet with star in distance, illustration

ExoplanetsFebruary 3, 2025

Nearby Habitable-Zone Exoplanet May Be a World of Fire and Ice

A newly confirmed exoplanet around a nearby sunlike star might be astronomers’ best chance yet to look for life beyond the solar system—but it’s still no place like home

Gayoung Lee

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