Articles about Planets

Timothy Chalamet and Rebecca Ferguson in "Dune"

How the ‘Dune’ science-fiction saga parallels the real science of Oregon’s dunes

The deserts of Abu Dhabi and Jordan play starring roles in the blockbuster sci-fi movie “Dune,” which premieres this week… Read More

Astronomers offer a solution to Hubble Space Telescope’s case of the disappearing planet

More than a decade ago, Fomalhaut b was considered one of the first exoplanets to be directly imaged — but… Read More

New Earth-sized planet ‘rescued’ from Kepler mission’s old data — and it may be habitable

An alien Earth that just might be habitable has been discovered in years-old records, thanks to sharp-eyed astronomers who gave… Read More

NASA’s TESS probe chalks up its first Earth-sized planet in habitable zone, plus a ‘Tatooine’ planet

Astronomers report that NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, has detected its first Earth-sized planet lying in its parent… Read More

Not so far, far away: How the Star Wars galaxy falls short of the real-life search for planets

Over the past 42 years, filmgoers have seen exotic worlds come to life in a succession of Star Wars movies… Read More

‘Super-puff’ planets add a cotton candy flavor to the search for alien worlds

Readings from the Hubble Space Telescope have shed light on a bizarre class of alien planets that have the density… Read More

3-D climate modeling could fine-tune the search for faraway signs of alien life

Astronomers have identified thousands of stars that have planets, and that number could mushroom even faster when waves of next-generation… Read More

Astronomers spot 20 more moons of Saturn — and want you to help name them

Saturn has pulled ahead of Jupiter again in the moon discovery race, thanks to a batch of 20 outer moons… Read More

TESS probe helps scientists find potentially habitable planet, 31 light-years away

Astronomers are sharing a flood of findings from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, including the detection of a… Read More

Breakthrough Watch and ESO kick off the search for more planets at Alpha Centauri

The European Southern Observatory and the billionaire-backed Breakthrough Watch program say they have achieved first light with a new observing… Read More

TESS planet-hunters add a ‘sub-Neptune’ world to discovery list, with more to come

Less than a year after NASA’s TESS spacecraft was launched, the scientists behind the mission have unveiled their third confirmed… Read More

Artist mixes real photographs and his vision of deep space to create an otherworldly Instagram feed

Imagine the images on social media when one of our modern space-travel pioneers — whether it’s Bezos or Musk or… Read More

Exoplanet climate analysis pinpoints best place to live in TRAPPIST-1 star system

If you had to pick a place to set up shop amid the seven planets in the TRAPPIST-1 star system,… Read More

Scientists report a super-Earth orbiting Barnard’s Star, a mere 6 light-years away

The astronomical team that found the nearest exoplanet at Proxima Centauri has done it again with the reported detection of… Read More

Farewell, Kepler: NASA’s planet-hunting probe runs out of gas, but mission goes on

NASA’s Kepler planet-hunting telescope now belongs to the ages, with its fuel completely spent and its instruments shut down — but… Read More

Hubble Space Telescope boosts evidence for first exomoon seen circling alien planet

With a lot of help from the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers now feel confident enough to publish their evidence for… Read More

Search for Planet Nine turns up a way-out dwarf planet that’s called ‘The Goblin’

While searching for a hypothetical Planet Nine, astronomers found a distant mini-world that’s been given a spooky nickname: “The Goblin.”… Read More

TESS probe finds first potential planets

Astronomers on the team for NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite mission, or TESS, are reporting their first potential planet discoveries,… Read More

NASA unveils first science images from TESS probe’s quest to spot alien planets

The first science images from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite focus on a strip of southern sky that includes the… Read More

What is a ‘planet’? Historical study revisits the debate over Pluto and other dwarfs

Twelve years after the International Astronomical Union voted in a definition of planethood that reclassified Pluto, the debate goes on.… Read More

It’s prime time for watching Mars – plus a total lunar eclipse that you can see online

It’s no hoax: Mars is bigger and brighter in the night sky than it’s been at any time since 2003.… Read More

NASA’s Kepler probe suspends planet hunt to download data as fuel runs near empty

News Brief: NASA has hit the pause button on observations by its most prolific planet-hunting probe, the Kepler space telescope,… Read More

NASA’s Dawn probe snaps close-ups of Ceres’ formerly mysterious white spots

The once-mysterious bright spots shining on the surface of the dwarf planet Ceres are getting their closest close-ups from NASA’s… Read More

It’s full of stars! NASA’s planet-hunting TESS probe sends back its first test image

One month after its launch, NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite has sent back an initial test image that shows more… Read More

Pluto’s champion recounts first mission to icy world – and gears up for the next one

It took nine years for NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft to get to Pluto, and laying the groundwork for that history-making… Read More

SpaceX launches NASA’s TESS spacecraft on mission to seek out alien planets

SpaceX has launched NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, kicking off a mission aimed at surveying nearly the entire sky… Read More

SpaceX and NASA delay launch of TESS planet hunter to check guidance analysis

NASA and SpaceX say they’ll take more time to launch the Transiting Exoplanet Survey System, or TESS, just to make… Read More

Our solar system has met its match: AI helps scientists find a star’s eighth planet

We’re not alone. At least when it comes to solar systems with the same number of major planets as ours.… Read More

Ross 128 redux: Red dwarf sparks interest as a potentially not-so-weird locale for life

A red dwarf star that was previously thought to be the source of a weird signal from aliens turns out… Read More

Help NASA and New Horizons nickname the icy world they’re targeting after Pluto

2014 MU69 just won’t cut it, so NASA and the folks behind the New Horizons mission want you to help… Read More