News Archive / Tagged: exoplanets

• Scientist anticipates finding life beyond our solar system in 25 years

  Laurel KornfeldApril 26th, 2023

  Several missions that could detect life beyond our solar system are currently in development, Swiss astrophysicist Sasha Quanz said at the recent opening of ETH Zurich's Centre for the Origin and Prevalence of Life.

• Two super-Earth exoplanets to be among future Webb targets

  Laurel KornfeldJuly 13th, 2022

  Scientists have identified two relatively close super-Earth exoplanets to be studied by the now operational James Webb Space Telescope.

• First exoplanet targets recommended for Webb observation

  Laurel KornfeldMarch 27th, 2022

  Now that the James Webb Space Telescope's primary mirror has been aligned successfully, scientists are identifying the first exoplanets for observation.

• New class of exoplanets identified in search for extraterrestrial life

  Laurel KornfeldSeptember 5th, 2021

  More than 25 years after the discovery of the first exoplanets, scientists have identified a new subclass of planets that are hot, have large oceans and thick hydrogen atmospheres, and may be habitable for microbial life.

• Exoplanets and their characterization the focus of STScl workshop

  Laurel KornfeldMay 11th, 2021

  The various methods used over the last 25 years to discover exoplanets and the science of categorizing the many types of exoplanets that have been found was the focus of an April 19 workshop for science writers sponsored by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI).

• Hubble Space Telescope discoveries highlighted by astronomer

  Laurel KornfeldMarch 14th, 2021

  During its 31 years of activity, the Hubble Space Telescope has been "one of the most successful scientific experiments in history," used to research numerous fields of astronomy ranging from cosmology and the expansion of the universe to the characterization of exoplanets, said astronomer Tom Brown of the Space Telescope Science Institute in a March 2 online presentation.

• Kepler data reveals Earth-like planet in star’s habitable zone

  Laurel KornfeldApril 21st, 2020

  Scientists who took a second look at data returned by NASA’s Kepler space telescope have discovered an Earth-sized exoplanet orbiting in the habitable zone of a red dwarf star.

• Spitzer telescope to be decommissioned after 16 years

  Laurel KornfeldJanuary 20th, 2020

  NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, which has studied the universe in infrared light since its launch in August of 2003, will be decommissioned on Thursday, January 30, 2020.

• In first six months, TESS discovers three exoplanets and more

  Laurel KornfeldJanuary 12th, 2019

  During the first six months of its two-year mission, NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) discovered three confirmed planets and many planet candidates while also observing other astronomical phenomena such as supernovae, asteroids, comets, and eclipsing binary stars.

• A spaceflight era closes with end of Dawn and Kepler missions

  Laurel KornfeldNovember 3rd, 2018

  The Kepler and Dawn spacecraft both ran out of fuel, marking the end of an era that transformed our understanding of both our solar system and others.

• Kepler Space Telescope concludes mission that discovered thousands of far-flung worlds

  Jason RhianOctober 30th, 2018

  The Kepler Space Telescope has been on duty for more than nine years. Its mission(s) came to an end when the spacecraft expended the last of its fuel. It leaves behind a wealth of data about exoplanets that has revolutionized humanity's understanding of our galaxy.

• Has NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope detected first exomoon?

  Laurel KornfeldOctober 4th, 2018

  NASA's Kepler Space Telescope may have discovered evidence of a moon orbiting a planet around a distant star.

• NASA’s planet-hunting TESS mission shares ‘1st-light’ image

  Jim SharkeySeptember 23rd, 2018

  Scientists with NASA's planet-hunting Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission recently released images from the spacecraft's first science orbit. The mission's "first light" image was a detailed picture of the southern sky taken with all four of the spacecraft's wide-field cameras.

• Our SpaceFlight Heritage: Spitzer telescope’s top 15 discoveries

  Laurel KornfeldAugust 27th, 2018

  To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Spitzer Space Telescope's operations in space, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which manages the mission, issued a statement highlighting the infrared observatory's top 15 discoveries.

• Vita ignotum: How will NASA recognize life as we do not know it?

  Jason RhianJune 26th, 2018

  Since humanity realized that other worlds orbited distant stars, we have wondered what life on these far-flung planets might look like. While Star Trek and other series have depicted the life of these planets as, essentially, humans with bumpy heads - NASA is considering all the possibilities of what alien life might actually be like.