Exoplanets—planets that orbit stars beyond our solar system—have transformed our understanding of the universe. Since the first confirmed discovery in the 1990s, more than 5,000 have been identified, ...
In principle, discovering new exoplanets is pretty easy. Simply measure the brightness of a star over time, and when a planet passes in front of the star, the brightness will dim slightly. The more ...
An illustration of what it might look like to visit Kepler 16 b, a nearby exoplanet with twin suns. Credit: NASA Imagine a planet where molten diamond rains from the sky, hurled sideways by winds that ...
Space telescopes are revolutionizing exoplanet discovery, allowing astronomers to detect Earth-like worlds orbiting distant stars. By observing subtle dimming of starlight, measuring gravitational ...
Scientists using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) discovered an exoplanet, which NASA defines as “any planet beyond our solar system.” What's False However, the “strange signals” ...
Just decades after the first exoplanets were identified, our database of the distant worlds—monitored by the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute—has breached a new threshold. Now, astronomers have ...