Most exoplanets orbiting close to their stars don’t have atmospheres. But Gliese 486b – orbiting a red dwarf star only 24 light-years away – does. It’s close enough to see well. Astronomers will be watching it! Source: https://earthsky.org/space/gliese-486b-hot-super-earth-with-atmosphere…
Tag: habitable
Evidence for white dwarfs consuming Earth-like worlds
For the first time, astronomers have detected the vaporized remains of the crusts of long-dead Earth-like and Mars-like planets in the atmospheres of white dwarf stars. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/vaporized-earth-like-mars-like-crusts-white-dwarf-stars…
Water worlds may be abundant in our galaxy
A new study suggests that our Milky Way galaxy is filled with planets like Earth, containing continents and oceans. If so, life might be common in the Mlilky Way. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/water-common-on-planets-pebble-accretion-milky-way…
Titan’s atmosphere recreated in an Earth laboratory
Beyond Earth, the general scientific consensus is that the best place to search for evidence of extraterrestrial life is Mars. However, it is by no means the only place. Aside from the many extrasolar planets that have been designated as “potentially-habitable,” there are plenty of other candidates right here in our solar system. These include the many icy satellites that are…
Can air pollution help us find alien life?
To find alien life in our universe, scientists have considered searches for optical lasers or even giant energy-harvesting structures known as Dyson spheres. Now they’re suggesting a more mundane sort of search, a hunt for air pollution in exoplanet atmospheres. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/can-pollution-help-us-find-alien-life…
A new planet next door?
Astronomers have spotted “something” near Alpha Centauri A, in the star system nearest our Earth and sun. If it turns out to be a planet, it’ll be the first time a planet has been directly imaged within the habitable zone of a star. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/alpha-centauri-a-planet-candidate-direct-image-discovery…
There’s a Tantalizing Sign of a Habitable-Zone Planet in Alpha Centauri
An international team of astronomers has found signs that a habitable planet may be lurking in Alpha Centauri, a binary star system a mere 4.37 light-years away. It could be one of the closest habitable planet prospects to date, although it’s probably not much like Earth if it exists. From a report: The new findings: The Alpha Centauri system’s potential to…
Update on the 7 Earth-sized planets orbiting nearby TRAPPIST-1
A new study of the seven Earth-sized exoplanets around TRAPPIST-1 indicate that all 7 planets are extremely similar to each other in makeup, but potentially quite different from Earth. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/7-trappist-1-planets-similar-composition-unlike-earth…
Why Do We Assume Extraterrestrials Might Want To Visit Us?
Avi Loeb, former chair of the astronomy department at Harvard University and who chairs the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Academies, writing at Scientific American: It is presumptuous to assume that we are worthy of special attention from advanced species in the Milky Way. We may be a phenomenon as uninteresting to them as ants are to us;…
Hostile space weather might not be all bad for exoplanet life
A new study from Northwestern University shows that solar flares – space weather – might not always be as dangerous for life on exoplanets as typically thought. In fact, it might even help astronomers discover alien life on distant worlds. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/hostile-space-weather-might-not-be-all-bad-for-exoplanet-life…