Articles tagged with Exoplanets
Researchers have found a massive exoplanet, XO-3b, which orbits its star in less than four days and is 13 times the mass of Jupiter. The planet's unusual characteristics, including its elliptical orbit and size, raise questions about its classification as a brown dwarf.
The California and Carnegie Planet Search team has reported 28 new exoplanets, increasing the total number of known exoplanets to 236. The new discoveries include seven confirmed brown dwarfs, which are failed stars that can be more massive than Jupiter-sized planets.
Researchers have mapped weather on a gas giant planet called HD 189733b, discovering supersonic winds that can move at speeds of up to 22,000 mph. The winds are so fast they redistribute heat across the planet's surface, with dayside and nightside temperatures differing by only 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
The University of Central Florida professor has made a groundbreaking discovery that the hottest known extrasolar planet, HD 149026b, is approaching temperatures of 3,700 degrees. This unprecedented finding indicates that the planet's surface must be incredibly black to absorb all the starlight it receives.
Researchers used Earth-based light data to identify dominant photosynthesis colors for extrasolar planets, narrowing the range of expected colors. This new approach will guide future space telescope designs to study habitable planets and detect alien life.
Scientists have obtained a spectrum of a planet orbiting another star, revealing the presence of silicate dust in its atmosphere. The discovery was made using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and represents a significant advance in extrasolar planetary science.
Researchers have directly imaged a faint brown dwarf companion to the star HD 3651, which hosts a planet. The discovery provides valuable information on planetary formation and offers a unique insight into the co-formation of planets and brown dwarfs around the same star.
A team of astronomers has measured the temperature variation across the surface of a giant gas planet, Upsilon Andromeda b, for the first time. The study reveals that the planet's hot side reaches temperatures of 2,550 degrees Fahrenheit, while its dark side is frigid.
Astronomers confirm two exoplanets using ESO's Very Large Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope data. The discoveries provide strong evidence for at least 6 billion Jupiter-sized planets in the Milky Way, including five new ultra-short-period planet types.
Two new planets have been discovered by astronomers, both extremely close to their stars and estimated to be around 3,272 degrees Fahrenheit. The discovery is made possible by the transit method, which detects slight dimming of starlight as planets pass in front of their stars.
Astronomers have discovered a small brown dwarf star orbiting a Sun-like star with a planet, revealing a new class of coldest brown dwarfs called T dwarfs. The team also found another smaller brown dwarf in the same system, which may be the youngest known T dwarf, providing a snapshot of early brown-dwarf development.
The International Astronomical Union has elected Catherine Cesarsky as its new president, effective for the next three years. The IAU will play a key role in promoting astronomy globally, especially during the proposed International Year of Astronomy in 2009.
Researchers have found a nearby star system that could potentially host an Earth-like planet with the right conditions. The modelled system is expected to have a habitable zone where terrestrial planets can form, similar to our own solar system.
Three tiny companions orbiting HD 69830 have been discovered by astronomers using the ESO's HARPS instrument. The newly found planets have minimum masses between 10 and 18 times the mass of Earth, with one located in the habitable zone.
Scientists simulated the cores of giant planets and exoplanets to understand how they formed and evolved. They found that extreme temperatures and pressures lead to the formation of metallic crystals, affecting a planet's magnetic field and surface activity.
Astronomers discover an Earth-like planet with a solid core, orbiting a red dwarf star five times less massive than the sun. The discovery, made using microlensing technique, reveals thousands of potentially habitable planets in distant parts of the galaxy.
The discovery of OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb provides strong evidence that low-mass planets, potentially supporting life, are more common than Jupiter-like gas giants. Researchers hope the gravitational microlensing technique will reveal more habitable worlds in the Milky Way galaxy.
Astronomers have discovered the first and only icy exoplanet that matches theoretical predictions for Solar System formation. OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb orbits a small red star at an extremely close distance, with a surface temperature of -220°C, and is likely to resemble Pluto more than rocky planets like Earth.
Astronomers have discovered a planet orbiting a 600-million-year-old star using the Exoplanet Tracker, a faster and cheaper instrument. The new method allows for more efficient search of distant stars, potentially uncovering planets capable of supporting life.
Researchers create an optical vortex mask that eliminates starlight, allowing for direct observation of nearby planets. The device successfully images Saturn and its rings, paving the way for future exoplanet detection projects like the Terrestrial Planet Finder.
Researchers explain violent origins of extrasolar planetary behavior, citing planet-planet scattering as key factor. The study's findings suggest that strong instabilities led to the formation of highly eccentric orbits in multiple systems.
Researchers have directly measured light from two confirmed extrasolar planets, HD 209458b and TrES-1, using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The gas giants, similar to Jupiter, orbit close to their stars and radiate strongly in the infrared, with temperatures reaching up to 1,574 degrees Fahrenheit.
Astronomers have discovered the smallest extra-solar planet to date, orbiting a pulsar in a planetary system resembling our own inner solar system. The new planet is estimated to be one-fifth the mass of Pluto and has an orbit approximately six times larger than its third planet.
Researchers found a young, faint companion to a star, measuring its mass for the first time. The object is 93 times as massive as Jupiter, contradicting theoretical predictions.
Researchers have discovered two candidate planets orbiting white dwarfs, which are the remnants of dead stars. The team used a combination of telescopes to detect these planets, which could provide clues about the solar system's formation and the presence of life in the galaxy.
Researchers have found a young planet that is smaller than expected and orbits its parent star at the same distance as our own Neptune. The discovery was made using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and challenges current understanding of planetary formation, leading to a re-examination of existing theories.
Astronomers have discovered a Jupiter-sized gas giant orbiting a star located 500 light-years from Earth. The newly found world circles its star every 3.03 days at a distance of only 4 million miles, much closer and faster than Mercury in our solar system.
Scientists have discovered a distant planet using the transit technique and spectroscopy, revealing key findings about TrES-1's atmosphere and orbit. The discovery marks the first extrasolar planet found by a dedicated survey of thousands of relatively bright stars.
During next week's transit, NCAR scientist Brown will examine regions of the solar spectrum absorbed by Venus's atmosphere between 65 and 85 kilometers altitude. He will also construct wind patterns based on gases' Doppler shifts to reveal atmospheric composition and temperature.
Research by Debra Fischer and Jeff Valenti found a correlation between star metal abundance and planet formation, with metal-rich stars having a 20% chance of harboring planets. The data suggest that a threshold metallicity exists, favoring the formation of planetary systems in stars with higher initial metal content.
The UCLA Center for Astrobiology will focus on four themes: extrasolar planetary systems, habitability of planets and their satellites, Earth's early environment and life, and evolution of biological complexity. The center aims to detect planets beyond our solar system using new methods and study the factors that control habitability.
The discovery of a companion planet to Tau1 Gruis star with a relatively long-period orbit and mass similar to Jupiter sheds new light on the formation of giant planets. Researchers found that most giant planets likely form at Jupiter-like distances from their host stars.
Researchers are using computer simulations to determine if the 47 Ursae Majoris system can contain an Earth-like planet. The system's asteroid belt is in the habitable zone, increasing the likelihood of finding a terrestrial planet.
Astronomers detected sodium in the atmosphere of a gas giant exoplanet orbiting a yellow star. The team used Hubble's spectrometer to analyze light passing through the planet's atmosphere, revealing less sodium than expected, which may indicate high-altitude clouds blocking some light.
A team of astronomers has discovered a Jupiter-size planet in a nearly circular orbit around the nearby star 47 Ursae Majoris, located about 51 light years from Earth. The new planet is at least three-fourths the mass of Jupiter and orbits the star at a distance that would place it beyond Mars but within the orbit of Jupiter.
Scientists find five stars with unexplained wobbles, suggesting the presence of a second companion planet. The discovery of three new gas giants adds to the list of 41 known planets outside our solar system, revealing patterns in planetary formation and dynamics.
Detailed studies of 12 stars with Jupiter-mass planets show concentrations of heavy elements two to three times greater than in the sun. The discovery supports the theory that stars born in heavy-element-enriched clouds are more likely to harbor giant planets.
A new theoretical study reproduces actual observations of the confirmed brown dwarf Gliese 229 B, providing insights into its atmosphere and formation. The research helps accelerate searches for brown dwarfs and giant extrasolar planets, shedding light on their composition and formation processes.