earth-like planets, life, new discoveries
Does the existence of life on Earth tell us anything about the probability of abiogenesis — the origin of life from inorganic substances — arising elsewhere? That question has confounded scientists and anyone else inclined to ponder it for some time. The Carter argument A widely accepted argument from Australian-born astrophysicist Brandon Carter argues that the ...
Mini-Neptunes and super-Earths up to four times the size of our own are the most common exoplanets orbiting stars beyond our solar system. Until now, super-Earths were thought to be the rocky cores of mini-Neptunes whose gassy atmospheres were blown away. In a new study published in The Astrophysical Journal, astronomers from McGill University show that ...
Thanks to new research using data from the Kepler space telescope, it’s estimated that there could be as many as 300 million potentially habitable planets in our galaxy. Some could even be pretty close, with several likely within 30 light-years of our Sun. The findings will be published in The Astronomical Journal, and research was a ...
Earth is not necessarily the best planet in the universe. Researchers have identified two dozen planets outside our Solar System that may have conditions more suitable for life than our own. Some of these orbit stars may be better than even our Sun. A study led by Washington State University scientist Dirk Schulze-Makuch, recently published ...
Our universe is not made of stars and planets that are neatly ordered into infinity. There are numerous anomalies, strange systems, and wonderful sights all within the observable part of the universe. What’s happening over on the other side is anyone’s guess. We’ve been taught about the planets in our solar system and we’re quite ...
Research from the University of Sheffield has found that the chance of finding Earth-like planets in their early stages of formation is much higher than previously thought. The team studied groups of young stars in the Milky Way to see if these groups were typical compared to theories and previous observations in other star-forming regions ...
University of British Columbia astronomy student Michelle Kunimoto has discovered 17 new planets, including a potentially habitable, Earth-sized world, by combing through data gathered by NASA’s Kepler mission. Over its original 4-year mission, the Kepler satellite looked for planets, especially those that lie in the “Habitable Zones” of their stars, where liquid water could exist ...
Scientists at NASA have discovered a planet that could harbor life. The discovery, made by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), revealed a planet called TOI 700 d located about 100 light-years away, orbiting a red dwarf star that has a mass equivalent to 40 percent of our Sun. It is located in the Goldilocks ...