Planets orbiting a red dwarf, much like Krypton’s star Rao.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
It could be orbiting LHS 2520.
An artist’s illustration of Kappa Ceti whose stellar winds are 50 times stronger than our sun’s. Any Earth-like planet would need a magnetic field to protect its atmosphere if it was to stand a chance of hosting life.
M. Weiss/CfA
In the search for life on other planets in the universe we need to find the right kind of star, and it needs to have the right kind of space weather.
If you’re looking for life, you’d do well to look for some moons.
Maxwell Hamilton
As the list of known planets beyond our solar system grows, the search for their moons is intensifying. One reason: they might hold the key to finding life elsewhere in the universe.
Artist’s impression: Looking back 12.9-billion km towards the sun and the inner solar system from Sedna, one of the recently discovered minor planets in the Kuiper belt.
NASA, ESA and Adolf Schaller
The search for new objects, including new planets, in our solar system has turned up some interesting finds. There have been a few failures over the years too.
Artist’s depiction of the newly discovered Jupiter-like planet orbiting the star HD 32963.
Stefano Meschiari
Jupiter had a big influence on how our solar system’s planets formed. New research – led by a high school student – tried to nail down how rare Jupiter analogs really are in other planetary systems.
Could this ever happen between close planetary neighbours?
Tom/Flickr
New research gives a clue about what happens when there are two habitable worlds in the same solar system.
The light shining through an exoplanet’s atmosphere can give us a hint of whether the planet supports life.
NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)
A hint of oxygen and a whiff of methane in a distant exoplanet’s atmosphere may be the first evidence we discover of alien life.
Gliese Cc: Artist’s impression of sunset on one of the most Earth-like exoplanets.
ESO/L. Calçada/wikimedia
Is there another Earth out there? Certainly, there are a few contenders
Aalto University
Recent Martian findings are just the latest discoveries of aurora on other planets, both in and out of our solar system.
Is this what we’re seeing around KIC 8462852 - a colossal megastructure built by alien intelligence? Probably not. The reality might be even more interesting.
Kevin Gill/Flickr
There’s a lot of speculation about a star behaving strangely in our galaxy. But even if it’s not evidence of alien intelligence, it’s sure to be an amazing discovery.
BBC/David Venni
Five science (fiction) reasons why you should get to know Doctor Who.
Artist’s conception of the young exoplanet 51 Eridani b.
Danielle Futselaar & Franck Marchis, SETI Institute
Studying the young, Jupiter-sized planet 51 Eridani b opens a window into our solar system’s past.
Who goes there? It’s very unlikely humans ever will, for sure.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
HD 219134 b may not be a catchy name - but our new planetary neighbour deserves just as much attention as Earth’s cousin, Kepler-452 b.
Pretty picture (artist’s impression) but unlikely scenario.
SETI institute
Why the new exoplanet said to resemble out Earth might just as well resemble Venus or Neptune.
Goddard Space Flight Centre
Nimble and cheap commercial science could be the way to get more eyes in the sky.
Mirror image?
NASA
A new exoplanet has been discovered that is a lot like Earth.
Looking for evidence of extraterrestrial intelligent life elsewhere in the universe.
Flickr/Asbjorn Sorensen Poulsen
Astronomers have been looking for signs of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe for centuries. But the search has so far found nothing. So what makes this latest hunt so different?
What secrets will space reveal?
AstroStar
Why the Breakthrough Listen project is a step in the right direction in our hunt for life beyond Earth.
The 64-metre Parkes Radio telescope will be instrumental in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
CSIRO/David McClenaghan
The Parkes radio telescope is part of the US$100 million search for life elsewhere in the universe, but the investment will also benefit other space research at The Dish.
The galaxies NGC 4038 and NGC 4039, locked in a destructive embrace.
ESA/Hubble/NASA
After a slow start, Hubble’s ultraviolet vision changed the face of astronomy.