Tag: exoplanets
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New Earth-sized planet ‘rescued’ from Kepler mission’s old data — and it may be habitable
An artist’s conception shows Kepler-1649c orbiting around its host red dwarf star. (NASA / Ames Research Center Illustration / Daniel Rutter) An alien Earth that just might be habitable has been discovered in years-old records, thanks to sharp-eyed astronomers who gave the data a second look. The exoplanet, known as Kepler-1649c, is only 6% wider…
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SETI and other alien-hunting strategies are dealing with new tools — and new troubles
Two PANOSETI telescopes are installed in the recently renovated Astrograph Dome at the Lick Observatory in California. PANOSETI will use a configuration of many SETI telescopes to allow simultaneous monitoring of the entire observable sky. (© Laurie Hatch Photo via UCSD) The search for extraterrestrial intelligence, better known as SETI, is taking advantage of a…
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NASA uplinks final command to deactivate Spitzer telescope
Artist’s concept of the Spitzer Space Telescope seen against the infrared sky. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC) NASA declared the Spitzer Space Telescope’s 16-year mission complete Thursday after sending final commands for the spacecraft to enter hibernation as it drifts farther from Earth. The Spitzer Space Telescope, one of NASA’s original four “Great Observatories,” studied the…
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NASA prepares to shut down one of its ‘Great Observatories’
Artist’s concept of NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, backdropped by an image of the infrared sky. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA will say goodbye to the Spitzer Space Telescope this week after more than 16 years observing the most distant galaxies ever detected, planets orbiting other stars, and star-forming clouds of dust and gas. Spitzer, one of NASA’s four…
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New discoveries from NASA’s TESS mission include potentially habitable exoplanet
Artist’s illustration of TOI 700 d, the first Earth-sized habitable-zone planet discovered by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Scientists crunching data from NASA’s orbiting TESS planet-hunting observatory have discovered a potentially habitable Earth-sized world circling a star a bit more than 100 light-years from the sun, the first such…
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NASA’s TESS probe chalks up its first Earth-sized planet in habitable zone, plus a ‘Tatooine’ planet
Astronomers report that NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, has detected its first Earth-sized planet lying in its parent star’s habitable zone, plus its first planet orbiting two stars. The Earth-sized planet, known as TOI 700 d, is orbiting a cool M-dwarf star a little more than 100 light-years from Earth in the southern…
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‘Super-puff’ planets add a cotton candy flavor to the search for alien worlds
An illustration depicts the sunlike star Kepler 51 and three giant planets that have an extraordinarily low density. (NASA / ESA / STScI / Hustak, Olmsted, Player and Summers) Readings from the Hubble Space Telescope have shed light on a bizarre class of alien planets that have the density of cotton candy. The “super-puff” planets…
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Not so far, far away: How the Star Wars galaxy falls short of the real-life search for planets
Luke Skywalker’s home planet, Tatooine, and its two suns are a good example of science echoing Star Wars. Or is it the other way around? (Lucasfilm Photo) Over the past 42 years, filmgoers have seen exotic worlds come to life in a succession of Star Wars movies — a series that is now coming to…
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3-D climate modeling could fine-tune the search for faraway signs of alien life
An artist’s conception shows a hypothetical planet with two moons orbiting within the habitable zone of an M-dwarf star. (NASA / Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Illustration / D. Aguilar) Astronomers have identified thousands of stars that have planets, and that number could mushroom even faster when waves of next-generation telescopes come online. But where are…
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Unpacking the proposed exo-planet imaging telescope HabEx
As part of NASA’s continued effort to ensure a steady supply of astrophysics and astronomy missions, the agency is undertaking the Astro2020: Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics. Currently, in the “Concept Study” phase, the survey includes proposals for four large-scale space telescopes – including the Habitable Exoplanet Observatory (HabEx). HabEx would facilitate direct observation…