planet news stories on Newser

New 'Water World' Confirmed

Rob Quinn — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 08:07:27 CST

A hot and steamy water world 40 light years away has been identified as the first known member of a whole new class of planets. Researchers using the Hubble space telescope have confirmed that planet GJ 1214b, first spotted in 2009 , contains a much higher proportion of water than any...

'Super Earth' Spotted, Might Support Life

Rob Quinn — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 04:03:26 CST

A planet in a triple-star system a relatively close 22 light years away is the best candidate yet for supporting life, researchers say. The rocky planet, GJ 667Cc, is around 4.5 times the size of Earth and orbits in the middle of the "Goldilocks zone" where water can remain...

Space Telescope Spots Earth-Sized Worlds

Matt Cantor — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:25:58 CST

For the first time, scientists have discovered planets roughly the size of ours outside our solar system. Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f are the smallest exoplanets yet found, Discovery reports. Because they're so close to the star they orbit, they don't appear habitable, but the finding is "next major milestone to finding...

'Large Regions' of Mars Are Habitable

Matt Cantor — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 07:45:25 CST

More fascinating news about the potential for life on Mars . Some 3% of Mars' volume is capable of sustaining life, Australian scientists have found—more than the 1% of Earth that contains living things. Researchers based their findings on a comparison between the two planets' temperature and pressure attributes, AFP...

NASA Spots Habitable Earth-Like Planet

Neal Colgrass — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 17:29:18 CST

Finally, an Earth-like planet where the weather is nice enough for an occasional visit. Only, it's 600 light-years away. Today NASA announced the existence of Kepler-22b, the first-ever planet discovered in the "habitable zone" of a sun-like star—where temperatures are placid enough to allow for water, ScienceNOW reports. "It's...

Small, Heavy, and Shiny— Planetoid Surprises Astronomers

Mark Russell — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 05:29:00 CDT

It's been six years since distant Eris was discovered, a small planetoid that led to Pluto losing its planetary status. But since it lies three times further from the sun than Pluto, Eris was very difficult to observe and little was known about it—until now. Last year Eris passed...

Probe Unlocks Mercury's Secrets

Rob Quinn — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 06:25:11 CDT

Mercury is anything but the boring "burnt-out cinder" scientists once believed it was, say researchers analyzing data from NASA's Messenger orbiter. The spacecraft has now spent 88 days—one Mercurian year—circling the planet, and has sent back about 20,000 new pictures that strongly suggest that ice coats parts...

NASA Snaps First Shots of Mercury From Orbit

Matt Cantor — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 14:17:32 CDT

A NASA spacecraft has captured the first photo of Mercury taken from orbit. The first of yesterday’s 363 images, shown at left, show the planet’s south pole. The gray surface is covered with craters, including a 53-mile-wide one known as Debussy. Other photos from the $464 million Messenger probe will...

Kepler Results Boost Chances of Finding Alien Life

Evann Gastaldo — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 05:15:00 CST

Exciting news for alien enthusiasts: The discovery by NASA scientists of a vast trove of Earth-like planets orbiting distant suns boosts our chances of finding extraterrestrial life. Findings from the Kepler telescope revealed that for every two stars in the universe, one has an Earth-like "candidate planet" orbiting it, the...