extrasolar planets

What is a Terrestrial Planet?

In studying our Solar System over the course of many centuries, astronomers learned a great deal about the types of planets that exist in our universe. This knowledge has since expanded thanks to the discovery of extrasolar planets, many of which are similar to what we have observed here at home. Above: The terrestrial planets…

io9 Matt Williams – Universe Today Jul 2

What Are Extrasolar Planets?

For generations, humans have looked out at the night sky and wondered if they were alone in the universe. With the discovery of other planets in our Solar System, the true extent of the Milky Way galaxy, and other galaxies beyond our own, this question has only deepened and become more profound. Artist’s illustration of…

io9 Matt Williams - Universe Today May 24

A Remarkable Direct Image Of A Nearby Super-Jupiter

You’re looking at the closest exoplanet ever directly imaged from Earth. To date, astronomers have catalogued nearly 2,000 extrasolar planets. Of these, a precious few have actually been photographed. That red blotch you see above is now the closest exoplanet for which a direct image and spectrum has been obtained. Typically, exoplanets are observed indirectly…

io9 George Dvorsky May 11

The First Observation Of Atmospheric Changes On A Rocky Exoplanet

It may be a terrestrial planet, but the changing atmospheric conditions on the so-called “Diamond Planet” are absolutely nothing like what we experience here on Earth. 55 Cancri e is a super-Earth located about 40 light-years away. It has a radius about twice the size of Earth and a mass that’s nearly eight times larger.…

io9 George Dvorsky May 5

Jupiter May Have Destroyed The Solar System’s First Planets

It is becoming increasingly obvious that our Solar System — with its inner collection of small rocky planets and an outer region buffeted by gas planets — is quite uncommon. According to a remarkable new study, the reason may have to do with Jupiter and an ancient migratory journey that kickstarted the destruction of our…

io9 George Dvorsky Mar 24

Freakishly Old System Of Planets Hint At Ancient Alien Civilizations

Kepler scientists have discovered the oldest known system of rocky, Earth-sized planets in the Milky Way. This suggests that terrestrial planets have appeared throughout most of the Universe’s 13.8 billion year history — a potential indication of just how ancient some extraterrestrial civilizations could be. Sadly, these five planets are not habitable; they’re all parked…

io9 George Dvorsky Jan 27

Whoa–Water Ice Clouds Suspected In Brown Dwarf Beyond The Solar System

What are planetary atmospheres made of? Figuring out the answer to that question is a big step on the road to learning about habitability, assuming that life tends to flourish in atmospheres like our own. Artist’s conception of brown dwarf WISE J085510.83-071442.5, which may host water ice clouds in its atmosphere. Credit: Rob Gizis (CUNY…

io9 Elizabeth Howell – Universe Today Sep 12

Newly Announced Super-Earth May Be The Closest Exoplanet Discovered Yet

Gliese15Ab is a newly discovered planet roughly five times the mass of Earth. Researchers aren’t sure what the planet’s atmosphere is like, and it’s close enough to its parent star to heat it past the boiling point of water. But the most interesting thing about Gliese 15Ab isn’t how close it is to its star.…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Aug 29

A Gorgeous Visualization Of Kepler’s Discoveries

This visualization, created by UC Berkeley astronomer Alex Parker, is one of the most beautiful representation of alien worlds we’ve ever seen. https://gizmodo.com/this-is-the-prettiest-visualization-of-keplers-planets-1590318125

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Jun 15

Astronomers Discover the “Mega Earth,” an Entirely New Type of Planet

Meet the “Mega Earth.” Described today by astronomers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, this ancient rocky world weighs 17 times as much as Earth — which is a big surprise considering that rocky, solid planets aren’t supposed to get that huge. Above: Artistic impression of the newly classified “mega-Earth” Kepler-10c (foreground). Its sibling, the…

io9 George Dvorsky Jun 2

Exoplanets Close to Earth’s Size Are Surprisingly Common

A recently-finished study of Kepler data is providing a new glimpse into the Milky Way’s exoplanetary composition. Planets about one to four times the size of Earth appear to be typical around Sun-like stars. But researchers say we don’t know yet whether they have the potential to harbour life. This latest survey, which was conducted…

io9 George Dvorsky May 27

Soar Through A Swarm of Every Exoplanet Discovered To Date

Tom Hands, a second-year PhD Student in the Theoretical Astrophysics group at the University of Leicester, created this visualization of known exoplanets with data from the Open Exoplanet Catalogue. Hands says his visualization features all of the all the exoplanets that have been found around single stars, “ordered roughly by semi-major axis of largest orbit,”…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez May 1

Astronomers Have Found the First Earth-Sized, Habitable Zone Planet

Scientists today announced the discovery of Kepler-186f, a faraway planet that’s perhaps the most Earth-like yet discovered. It’s the same size as our home world, and at the right distance from its parent star to have liquid water. So, have we at last discovered Earth 2? Above: An artist’s conception of Kepler-186f Credit: NASA Ames/SETI…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Apr 17

Kepler’s Latest Exoplanet Hoard, Graphed

Here’s some impressive planetary perspective: Last Wednesday, NASA’s Kepler mission announced the discovery of 715 newly confirmed exoplanets, nearly doubling the total number of verified planets beyond our solar system. This animated graph, courtesy of NASA, helps put that discovery into context. Nothing like having to dramatically adjust the scale of your Y-axis to accommodate…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Mar 2

The Kepler telescope has changed how we see ourselves in the Universe

Twenty years ago, we didn’t know if there were any planets orbiting stars other than our own. Today, it’s estimated that each of the roughly 100-billion stars in our galaxy has, on average, 1.6 planets orbiting around it, as this video from astronomers and science-communicators Tony Darnell and Scott Lewis explains. https://gizmodo.com/here-are-160-billion-reasons-to-be-excited-about-the-se-5875640 Did we mention…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Feb 21

Earth’s galactic neighborhood sure is crowded

Via XKCD comes this lovely chart of Earth’s newly-discovered exoplanetary neighbors. Extrapolated from the latest batch of Kepler data, the diagram depicts the number and sizes of planets thought to exist in the habitable zones of stars within 60 light years of Earth. Is it just me, or does it feel a little cramped in…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Dec 3

All the planets discovered by Kepler to date

On Monday, NASA’s Kepler mission added 833 worlds to its growing list of candidate planets, bringing the total tally to 3,538. Now, two recently released visualizations depict every. Single. One of them. The first, featured up top, is the most recent installment in Kepler scientist Daniel Fabrycky’s Kepler Orrery videos. Fabrycky writes: This shows the…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Nov 6

Astronomers say this Super Earth could have oceans of water

At just 40 light years from Earth, Gliese 1214b is one of the nearest Super-Earths we’ve discovered in our search for planets beyond the solar system. Now, a team of Japanese researchers say it could well be an “ocean world,” abundant in good old H2O. Above: An artist’s depiction of GJ 1214b in transit Via…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Sep 5

NASA says Kepler isn’t quite dead yet

According to NASA, the ailing Kepler Space Telescope is officially beyond repair, and is hereby relieved of its planet-hunting duties. But the Agency isn’t giving up entirely. The question now turns to how the prolific spacecraft might be put to new use, and NASA is open to suggestions. Above: An artist’s depiction of Kepler 62f,…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Aug 16

This could be the lightest alien planet ever captured on camera

We’ve found hundreds of planets outside the solar system, but taking a picture of one is still something quite special. The light of the parent star tends to greatly overwhelm the faint light of the alien planet. (So usually we learn about planets by tracking the effects each planet has on its star, like dimming…

io9 Elizabeth Howell – Universe Today Jun 3

extrasolar planets

What is a Terrestrial Planet?

What Are Extrasolar Planets?

A Remarkable Direct Image Of A Nearby Super-Jupiter

The First Observation Of Atmospheric Changes On A Rocky Exoplanet

Jupiter May Have Destroyed The Solar System’s First Planets

Freakishly Old System Of Planets Hint At Ancient Alien Civilizations

Whoa–Water Ice Clouds Suspected In Brown Dwarf Beyond The Solar System

Newly Announced Super-Earth May Be The Closest Exoplanet Discovered Yet

A Gorgeous Visualization Of Kepler’s Discoveries

Astronomers Discover the “Mega Earth,” an Entirely New Type of Planet

Exoplanets Close to Earth’s Size Are Surprisingly Common

Soar Through A Swarm of Every Exoplanet Discovered To Date

Astronomers Have Found the First Earth-Sized, Habitable Zone Planet

Kepler’s Latest Exoplanet Hoard, Graphed

The Kepler telescope has changed how we see ourselves in the Universe

Earth’s galactic neighborhood sure is crowded

All the planets discovered by Kepler to date

Astronomers say this Super Earth could have oceans of water

NASA says Kepler isn’t quite dead yet

This could be the lightest alien planet ever captured on camera

Amazon Is Sticking With ‘Rings of Power’ to the End

Trump Is Reportedly Going Full Steam Ahead with the Golden Dome

‘Kamen Rider’ Is Ready to Take on the World

Twitter Just Can’t Stop Leaking Movies

The ‘Mass Effect’ Show is Getting Rewritten to Get Greenlit

See the Early Stages of How ‘Project Hail Mary’ Brought Rocky to Life

‘Cognitive Surrender’ Is a New and Useful Term for How AI Melts Brains

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Let us help find what you are looking for...