Planets

Science

Aussie Scientists Find Planet Able To Support Liquid Water

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3:30PM February 3, 2012 | Alex Kidman

Travel a mere 22 light years from Earth and you’ll find a planet that scientists believe is the most likely to be able to host water in its liquid state. More »


Science

Kepler Almost Doubles Science’s Stock Of Known Exoplanets

8:30PM January 27, 2012 | Andrew Tarantola

NASA released dramatic new findings from the planet-scouting Kepler spacecraft project Thursday. Looks like the universe is way, way more crowded than we had realised. More »


Science

The Possibility Of Alien Life Is Now (Almost) Impossible To Deny

6:30AM January 13, 2012 | Jesus Diaz

An international team of astronomers have reached the most definitive conclusion, one with profound implications: our galaxy contains a minimum of 100 billion planets. Of those, most are small planets like ours. Statistically, every star would have at least one planet. More »


Science

Scientists Find Mars-Like Planet

1:00AM January 13, 2012 | Andrew Tarantola

Someone call John Lithgow and pull French Stewart out of storage. A team of astronomers using the Kepler telescope have discovered the smallest exoplanets — and tiniest solar system — so far. And their existence may show that our solar system isn’t all that unique. More »


Science

There Are Millions Of Tatooines In Our Galaxy

3:45PM January 12, 2012 | Jesus Diaz

Astronomers have found two more new planets orbiting binary stars: Kepler-34b and Kepler-35b. Their discovery, which follow the original Tatooine discovery back in September 2011, is quite important: now we know there are millions of planets orbiting binary stars. More »


Science

Crap, We Might Have Lost A Giant Planet

5:00PM November 12, 2011 | Adrian Covert

Have you seen a gas giant wandering aimlessly through space? Our solar system might have lost it while dealing with some dynamic instability 600 million years ago. It might be blue, is probably big and is believed to be somewhere deep in the Milky Way Galaxy. More »


Science

Scientists Discover The Best Skiing In The Solar System

10:00AM October 10, 2011 | Jack Loftus

…and it’s only a few hundred million kilometres away. Better fuel up your rocket and get started today, however, because we’re talking about Saturn’s moon Enceladus and the incredibly fine, snowy powder that covers its surface: More »


Software

Now You Can Journey To The Exoplanets On Your iPad

5:50AM October 5, 2011 | Kristen Philipkoski

Scientific American has launched a nifty new app that lets you explore exoplanets — planets outside our own solar system — from the comfort of your iPad. More »


Science

The Solar System’s Newest Beach Spot Is An Icy One

5:00AM September 19, 2011 | Jack Loftus

One ticket to Pluto, please! Seems there’s an ocean there just waiting to be discovered, surfed or lounged about. Don’t worry about my well-being though — I’ll be packing a sweater. More »


Science

The Biggest Diamond In The Universe Is Actually A Planet

12:00PM August 26, 2011 | Casey Chan

Astronomers and gold diggers were excited when scientists discovered a planet littered with diamonds. That’s just OK now. Why? Because a new planet just took bling to the next level: it’s one massive diamond the size of Jupiter. More »