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Possible 'Super-Earth' Discovered Just 20 Light-Years Away, Say Scientists
The rocky exoplanet is nearly four times Earth's mass and may offer new insights in the search for habitable worlds.
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Newly Found ‘Super-Earth’ GJ 251 c Could Be One of the Most Promising Worlds for Alien Life
A new super-Earth, GJ 251 c, has been found orbiting a nearby red dwarf star within its habitable zone. About four times Earth’s mass, it may host liquid water. Detected via the radial-velocity method using Penn State’s Habitable Zone Planet Finder, it’s a prime target in the search for life.
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Astronomers Capture First-Ever Image Of A Baby Planet Forming In Real Time
Astronomers have made a groundbreaking discovery by directly observing a young protoplanet, WISPIT 2b, embedded in a ring-shaped gap in a disk around a young star.
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Astronomers Spot Rapidly Growing Rogue Planet Feeding on Surrounding Gas
Astronomers have discovered that Cha 1107-7626, a rogue planet 620 light-years away, is now the fastest-growing planet ever observed. The massive world consumes six billion tonnes of gas per second, a rate never before recorded. The findings suggest rogue planets can grow in star-like ways, reshaping how scientists view free-floating planetary obje...
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James Webb Offers First Glimpse Into How Moons Are Built Around Distant Planets
The James Webb Space Telescope has detected carbon-bearing molecules in a moon-forming disk surrounding CT Cha b, a massive planet-like object orbiting a young star 625 light-years away. The discovery marks the first measurement of its kind and offers clues to how moons like those around Jupiter and Saturn might have formed.
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Scientists May Finally Explain Mysterious Crown-Like Features on Venus
Venus’ distinctive crown-like coronae may be explained by heat trapped beneath a rigid mantle layer, according to recent studies. This discovery provides key insights into the planet’s geological activity and helps researchers compare Venus’ surface evolution to that of other planets in our solar system
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Hubble Spots White Dwarf Devouring Icy Pluto-Like Planet 260 Light-Years Away
Using Hubble’s ultraviolet spectrograph, scientists detected carbon, nitrogen, sulphur, and abundant oxygen falling onto a white dwarf 260 light-years away, evidence of an icy planetesimal being torn apart. The find shows volatile worlds can persist into a star’s final stages, offering a preview of the Sun’s distant fate.
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Exoplanets Explained: How Astronomers Find Worlds Orbiting Stars Beyond the Sun
Exoplanets are planets orbiting stars outside our solar system, hidden by stellar glare and detected indirectly. Astronomers identify them by tracking star wobbles or dips in brightness during planetary transits. NASA’s Kepler mission revealed thousands, with TESS now expanding the search. These discoveries confirm that planetary systems are abun...
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James Webb Spots Bizarre Planet-Forming Disk Full of Carbon Dioxide
The James Webb Space Telescope has spotted a bizarre planet-forming disk dominated by carbon dioxide where water is almost absent. This rare finding, in star system XUE 10 within NGC 6357, challenges current models of planetary formation and may reshape our understanding of habitable worlds.
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James Webb Space Telescope Spots Planet-Building Dust in the Butterfly Nebula
The James Webb Space Telescope has unveiled stunning new details of the Butterfly Nebula, a planetary nebula 3,400 light-years away. Using its infrared vision, Webb detected crystalline silicates, large dust grains, and carbon-rich PAH molecules within the nebula’s dusty torus. These discoveries reveal how dying stars recycle minerals and organic...
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A Planet Is Being Born: Astronomers Capture Rare Cosmic Snapshot
Astronomers have captured a groundbreaking sight: WISPIT 2b, a baby gas giant planet forming within a dusty, multi-ring protoplanetary disk around a young Sun-like star 430 light-years away. Infrared images from the Very Large Telescope show the planet carving a dark path in the rings as it feeds on gas and dust. This rare discovery provides the fi...
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NASA’s Perseverance Rover Spots Helmet-Like Rock on Mars, Sparks Geology Debate
NASA’s Perseverance rover has photographed a helmet-shaped rock on Mars. Nicknamed “Horneflya,” the unusual spherule-covered formation intrigues scientists exploring how water, volcanic activity, or chemical processes shaped the Martian surface. Captured by Mastcam-Z, the discovery adds to Perseverance’s catalogue of strange formations and ...
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James Webb Telescope Discovers Tiny New Moon Orbiting Uranus
A team from the Southwest Research Institute has discovered a tiny new moon orbiting Uranus using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. The moon, called S/2025 U1, is just 6 miles (10 kilometers) wide, too small for Voyager 2 to detect during its 1986 flyby. This discovery brings Uranus’s total known moons to 29, with S/2025 U1 orbiting 35,000 mil...
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A New 'Earth' Next Door? Scientists Detect Possible Habitable Planet Around Closest Sun-Like Star
Astronomers using JWST have detected a giant exoplanet in the habitable zone of Alpha Centauri A, our nearest Sun-like star.
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NASA’s Curiosity Rover Spots Ancient Coral-Like Rock on Mars
On July 24, 2025, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover captured an image of a small, coral-shaped rock in Gale Crater using its ChemCam Remote Micro Imager. The light-colored, 1-inch (2.5 cm) formation likely formed billions of years ago when mineral-rich water seeped into tiny fractures in the rock, leaving behind hardened mineral veins after evaporation...
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Possible 'Super-Earth' Discovered Just 20 Light-Years Away, Say Scientists
The rocky exoplanet is nearly four times Earth's mass and may offer new insights in the search for habitable worlds.
-
Newly Found ‘Super-Earth’ GJ 251 c Could Be One of the Most Promising Worlds for Alien Life
A new super-Earth, GJ 251 c, has been found orbiting a nearby red dwarf star within its habitable zone. About four times Earth’s mass, it may host liquid water. Detected via the radial-velocity method using Penn State’s Habitable Zone Planet Finder, it’s a prime target in the search for life.
-
Astronomers Capture First-Ever Image Of A Baby Planet Forming In Real Time
Astronomers have made a groundbreaking discovery by directly observing a young protoplanet, WISPIT 2b, embedded in a ring-shaped gap in a disk around a young star.
-
Astronomers Spot Rapidly Growing Rogue Planet Feeding on Surrounding Gas
Astronomers have discovered that Cha 1107-7626, a rogue planet 620 light-years away, is now the fastest-growing planet ever observed. The massive world consumes six billion tonnes of gas per second, a rate never before recorded. The findings suggest rogue planets can grow in star-like ways, reshaping how scientists view free-floating planetary obje...
-
James Webb Offers First Glimpse Into How Moons Are Built Around Distant Planets
The James Webb Space Telescope has detected carbon-bearing molecules in a moon-forming disk surrounding CT Cha b, a massive planet-like object orbiting a young star 625 light-years away. The discovery marks the first measurement of its kind and offers clues to how moons like those around Jupiter and Saturn might have formed.
-
Scientists May Finally Explain Mysterious Crown-Like Features on Venus
Venus’ distinctive crown-like coronae may be explained by heat trapped beneath a rigid mantle layer, according to recent studies. This discovery provides key insights into the planet’s geological activity and helps researchers compare Venus’ surface evolution to that of other planets in our solar system
-
Hubble Spots White Dwarf Devouring Icy Pluto-Like Planet 260 Light-Years Away
Using Hubble’s ultraviolet spectrograph, scientists detected carbon, nitrogen, sulphur, and abundant oxygen falling onto a white dwarf 260 light-years away, evidence of an icy planetesimal being torn apart. The find shows volatile worlds can persist into a star’s final stages, offering a preview of the Sun’s distant fate.
-
Exoplanets Explained: How Astronomers Find Worlds Orbiting Stars Beyond the Sun
Exoplanets are planets orbiting stars outside our solar system, hidden by stellar glare and detected indirectly. Astronomers identify them by tracking star wobbles or dips in brightness during planetary transits. NASA’s Kepler mission revealed thousands, with TESS now expanding the search. These discoveries confirm that planetary systems are abun...
-
James Webb Spots Bizarre Planet-Forming Disk Full of Carbon Dioxide
The James Webb Space Telescope has spotted a bizarre planet-forming disk dominated by carbon dioxide where water is almost absent. This rare finding, in star system XUE 10 within NGC 6357, challenges current models of planetary formation and may reshape our understanding of habitable worlds.
-
James Webb Space Telescope Spots Planet-Building Dust in the Butterfly Nebula
The James Webb Space Telescope has unveiled stunning new details of the Butterfly Nebula, a planetary nebula 3,400 light-years away. Using its infrared vision, Webb detected crystalline silicates, large dust grains, and carbon-rich PAH molecules within the nebula’s dusty torus. These discoveries reveal how dying stars recycle minerals and organic...
-
A Planet Is Being Born: Astronomers Capture Rare Cosmic Snapshot
Astronomers have captured a groundbreaking sight: WISPIT 2b, a baby gas giant planet forming within a dusty, multi-ring protoplanetary disk around a young Sun-like star 430 light-years away. Infrared images from the Very Large Telescope show the planet carving a dark path in the rings as it feeds on gas and dust. This rare discovery provides the fi...
-
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Spots Helmet-Like Rock on Mars, Sparks Geology Debate
NASA’s Perseverance rover has photographed a helmet-shaped rock on Mars. Nicknamed “Horneflya,” the unusual spherule-covered formation intrigues scientists exploring how water, volcanic activity, or chemical processes shaped the Martian surface. Captured by Mastcam-Z, the discovery adds to Perseverance’s catalogue of strange formations and ...
-
James Webb Telescope Discovers Tiny New Moon Orbiting Uranus
A team from the Southwest Research Institute has discovered a tiny new moon orbiting Uranus using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. The moon, called S/2025 U1, is just 6 miles (10 kilometers) wide, too small for Voyager 2 to detect during its 1986 flyby. This discovery brings Uranus’s total known moons to 29, with S/2025 U1 orbiting 35,000 mil...
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A New 'Earth' Next Door? Scientists Detect Possible Habitable Planet Around Closest Sun-Like Star
Astronomers using JWST have detected a giant exoplanet in the habitable zone of Alpha Centauri A, our nearest Sun-like star.
-
NASA’s Curiosity Rover Spots Ancient Coral-Like Rock on Mars
On July 24, 2025, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover captured an image of a small, coral-shaped rock in Gale Crater using its ChemCam Remote Micro Imager. The light-colored, 1-inch (2.5 cm) formation likely formed billions of years ago when mineral-rich water seeped into tiny fractures in the rock, leaving behind hardened mineral veins after evaporation...
