Extraterrestrial Life

Researchers estimate that 6 percent of red dwarf stars may be orbited by Earth-like planets, including a candidate 13 light-years off. Karen Hopkin reports

Beneath its pretty pink exterior, Messier 106 harbors a monster black hole that gobbles up matter at the galaxy’s center

Astronomers estimate 4.5 billion Earth-like planets are spread throughout the Galaxy

Kepler space telescope astrophysicist Martin Still looks for Earth-like worlds and tracks the death of stars as he ponders the possible demise of his own program

Based on exoplanet observations made using the Kepler space telescope, astronomers estimate that our galaxy's ratio of stars to planets is at least one to one. Karen Hopkin reports

Rock is among the oldest known from the Red Planet and matches findings from NASA rovers

The newly detected planet is one of five found circling the star Tau Ceti, which sits 12 light-years away

NASA has plans for another Mars rover, but no trips scheduled for exotic places like Titan or Europa. John Matson reports

Global 3-D climate simulations for plausible Martian atmospheres show that even with a much thicker CO2 layer, the greenhouse effect could not have warmed Mars above freezing. John Matson reports.

On the heels of a Russian drilling effort that reached Lake Vostok, British and American teams also aim to penetrate ancient subglacial lakes

A planet at least seven times as massive as Earth orbits comfortably in the habitable zone of the star HD 40307. John Matson reports

The planet is only 42 light-years from Earth and may contain liquid water, but scientists do not know whether the world is rocky or gaseous