Category Archives: Exoplanets

Earth’s Cousin

Posted on April 23, 2015 by jamej00

Source: slate.com This picture is an artist’s depiction of what the rocky planet Kepler-186f might look like.  On April 17, 2014 astronomer’s announced that they had found this planet using the transit method, making it the first confirmed earth-size exoplanet in the habitable zone!  There is no data yet on whether or not Kepler-186f has… Continue reading →

Posted in Exoplanets, Historical | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Earth’s Cousin

Some pretty extreme(“ophiles”)

Posted on April 23, 2015 by karenagrebenc

Image from wikipedia.com That above picture is of a water bear, one of multiple really cool extremophiles discussed in this article.  The article makes a really cool comment about how we are lucky that water bears, and the same probably holds true for other extremophiles as well, are so small.  Otherwise, it is likely that […] Continue reading →

Posted in Aliens, Exoplanets, Science | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Some pretty extreme(“ophiles”)

‘Definite Evidence’ Of Alien Life Within 20-30 Years

Posted on April 22, 2015 by jclyncmp

In a panel discussion earlier this month, NASA Chief Scientist, Ellen Stofan, said that there is definite evidence that we will find alien life within the next 20-30 years. She defines life not as ‘little green men’ but microbes, which…

Continue reading →

Continue reading →

Posted in Aliens, Exoplanets | Tagged , | Comments Off on ‘Definite Evidence’ Of Alien Life Within 20-30 Years

The Exoplanet Gold Rush

Posted on April 7, 2015 by pMurs

The discovery and study of exoplanets, or planets in other solar systems, is one of the newest sub-fields of astronomy. The reason for this is that, prior to the mid 1990’s, we didn’t really have the technology to find these planets. Through various means, the discovery of exoplanets has taken off at an exponential rate […] Continue reading →

Posted in Exoplanets | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Exoplanet Gold Rush

The Search for Extrasolar Planets

Posted on April 6, 2015 by farhannshabab

Extrasolar planets, or exoplanets, lie outside our solar system. We have so far discovered nearly 2000 exoplanets, most of which are Jovian planets like Jupiter. However in 2009, a possibly Earth like planet was discovered: Gliese 581d had the potential to support liquid water on its possibly rocky surface. It has a mass of around […] Continue reading →

Posted in Exoplanets, Instruments | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on The Search for Extrasolar Planets

Exoplanet in Four Star System

Posted on April 6, 2015 by revanth111

Source: Discovery News Astronomers recently discovered the second exoplanet known to be part of a four star system. To find a planet in such a system is rare because the gravitational interaction between the stars are likely to remove planets from any sort of stable orbit. Four star systems are fairly rare themselves, making up […] Continue reading →

Posted in Exoplanets | Tagged , | Comments Off on Exoplanet in Four Star System

Kepler Search for Exoplanets

Posted on April 5, 2015 by robbyks

The Kepler spacecraft entered its 4th observing campaign in February. There are nearly 16,000 target stars, which are being searched for exoplanets and other astrophysical phenomena. Included in the target are two open star clusters in the Taurus constellation. Onboard fuel is projected to last until December 2017. In its previous campaigns, the Kepler team […] Continue reading →

Posted in Exoplanets, Instruments | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Kepler Search for Exoplanets

Saturn 2.0

Posted on April 5, 2015 by jamej00

So all the planets know that Saturn’s rings give it a really over-inflated ego.  But now there’s good news!  Maybe it’ll quit bragging now that it looks like there’s another planet with a bigger ring system.  Scientists think they’ve found an extrasolar planet with an elaborate ring system, the first discovery of a planet with… Continue reading →

Posted in Exoplanets, Planet Rings | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Saturn 2.0

Exoplanets: Planets Not Orbiting the Sun

Posted on April 2, 2015 by ctogrye

Hey there! Today I’m going to be discussing the topic. The definition of an Exoplanet is a planet which orbits a star (or stellar remnant or brown dwarf) which is not the Sun. Thus far, over 1900 exoplanets have been discovered. 480 of these exoplanets are confirmed to exist in multi-planet systems. These planets are […] Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Exoplanets | Tagged , | Comments Off on Exoplanets: Planets Not Orbiting the Sun

The Goldilocks Zone: Not as elusive as previously thought?

Posted on March 26, 2015 by jclyncmp

New research from the Australian National University and the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen has calculated that billions of the milky Way star’s have one to three planets in the habitable zone (or nicknamed: “The Goldilocks Zone” because…

Continue reading →

Continue reading →

Posted in Aliens, Exoplanets, Stars | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Goldilocks Zone: Not as elusive as previously thought?