For the first time, astronomers have detected a planet orbiting a white dwarf star. If further confirmed, the discovery shows that some planets could survive the destruction of their sun-like stars, and some might even remain potentially habitable. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/survivor-planet-wd-1856-b-orbiting-white-dwarf…
Tag: red dwarfs
Nearby red dwarf star not so quiet and life-friendly after all
Astronomers say the nearby red dwarf star Gliese 887 appears to have more dangerous flare activity than first believed. This could make life tough – but maybe not impossible – on its family of super-Earth planets. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/red-dwarf-gliese-887-flares-in-ultraviolet-light…
At least 2 super-Earths orbit this red dwarf star
Astronomers from the University of Göttingen in Germany have discovered two, and possibly three, super-Earth exoplanets orbiting the nearby red dwarf star Gliese-887. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/exoplanets-super-earths-gliese-887-red-dwarf-star…
Where is Proxima Centauri?
You probably know the very nearest star to our sun is Proxima in the triple star system we call Alpha Centauri. Guy Ottewell shows you where in space Proxima is. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/where-is-proxima-centauri…
New exoplanet system is ‘mirror image’ of Earth and sun
Researchers from Germany and the US have discovered an exoplanet less than twice the size of Earth orbiting at about the same distance from its star, making it the closest analog to the Earth-sun system known so far. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/exoplanet-kepler-160-mirror-image-earth-sun…
Astronomers Have Found a New Planet Like Earth Orbiting a Star Like the Sun
Iwastheone quotes MIT’s Technology Review: Three thousand light-years from Earth sits Kepler 160, a sun-like star that’s already thought to have three planets in its system. Now researchers think they’ve found a fourth. Planet KOI-456.04, as it’s called, appears similar to Earth in size and orbit, raising new hopes we’ve found perhaps the best candidate yet for a habitable exoplanet that…
Proxima Centauri b confirmed as nearest exoworld
Researchers at the University of Geneva have confirmed the existence of an Earth-sized exoplanet orbiting in the habitable zone of Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our sun. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/exoplanet-proxima-centauri-b-confirmed…
In the far future, the universe will be mostly invisible
If you look out on the sky on a nice clear dark night, you’ll see thousands of intense points of light. Those stars are incredibly far away, but bright enough to be seen with the naked eye from that great distance—a considerable feat. But what you don’t see are all the small stars, the red dwarfs, too small and dim to…
The mysterious yellow skies of WASP-79b
Scientists studying the huge, hot exoplanet WASP-79b have found that, surprisingly, the planet has yellow skies instead of blue. But why it does is still a mystery. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/wasp-79b-exoplanets-atmosphere-rayleigh-scattering…
Update on 2I/Borisov, the first known interstellar comet
The first known interstellar comet – 21/Borisov – probably came here from a red dwarf star, according to a new study of data from the Hubble Space Telescope. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/comet-21-borisov-comets-red-dwarf-stars-hubble-space-telescope…