Using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), astronomers have discovered two rocky exoplanets orbiting a nearby K-type star, known as TOI-2322. The newfound alien worlds are comparable in size to Earth and have relatively short orbital periods. The finding was detailed in a paper published August 25 on the arXiv pre-print server.

Astronomers sometimes find conflicting data when trying to answer a question. This is a normal part of the scientific process, and it simply means that more data is needed to prove or disprove the theory they are trying to test. One prominent example of conflicting data in recent exoplanet research was that of planet GJ 1132 b, which either had or didn’t have an atmosphere, depending on which data set was being used. A new paper from researchers using more observational time on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) can now definitively say that, most likely, GJ 1132 b doesn’t have an atmosphere - and that finding has wider implications for exoplanet research more generally.

Imagine a world where rivers vaporize into screaming storms each morning, only to freeze into glass-like plains by nightfall. Astronomers have discovered TOI-715b—a super-Earth caught in a gravitational waltz so extreme, it redefines what “habitable” even means. This isn’t science fiction; it’s the cutting edge of cosmic reality.

The Discovery A possible “super-Earth” orbits a relatively close, Sun-like star, and could be a habitable world – but one of extreme temperature swings, from scorching heat to deep freeze. Key Facts The newly confirmed planet is the outermost of three detected so far around a star called HD 20794, just 20 light-years from Earth. […] The post Discovery Alert: ‘Super-Earth’ Swings from Super-Heated to Super-Chill appeared first on NASA Science.

<p>The exoplanet census continues to grow. Currently, 5,819 exoplanets have been confirmed in 4,346 star systems, while thousands more await confirmation. The vast majority of these planets were detected in the past twenty years, owing to missions like the Kepler Space Telescope, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), the venerable Hubble, the Convection, Rotation and &#8230; </p> <p class="link-more"><a class="more-link" href="https://www.universetoday.com/170469/nasa-is-building-a-space-telescope-to-observe-exoplanet-atmospheres/">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "NASA is Building a Space Telescope to Observe Exoplanet Atmospheres"</span></a></p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.universetoday.com/170469/nasa-is-building-a-space-telescope-to-observe-exoplanet-atmospheres/">NASA is Building a Space Telescope to Observe Exoplanet Atmospheres</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.universetoday.com">Universe Today</a>.</p>

Astrobiologists are dying to send another mission to study Enceladus, the icy moon that orbits Saturn and has active plumes emanating from its surface, A team from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) proposes an Enceladus Orbitlander that would conduct in-situ measurements of Enceladus' plumes, which could confirm the presence of organics and maybe even life in its interior.

Florida Tech astrophysicist Howard Chen is offering new insights to help aid NASA's search for life beyond Earth. His latest theoretical work investigates the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system, one of the most widely studied exoplanetary systems in the galaxy. It has captured scientists' attention for its potential to host water, and thus possibly life, on its planets. Now, he's offering an explanation for why telescopes have yet to find definitive signs of either.

For decades, scientists engaged in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) have probed the galaxy for signs of artificial radio transmissions. Beginning with Project Ozma in 1960, astronomers have used radio antennas to listen for possible transmissions from other star systems or galaxies.

Thirty years after the discovery of the first exoplanet, astronomers have detected more than 7,000 of them in our galaxy. But there are still billions more to be discovered. At the same time, exoplanetologists have begun to take an interest in their characteristics, with the aim of finding life elsewhere in the universe. This is the background to the discovery of super-Earth HD 20794 d by an international team including the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the NCCR PlanetS.

Circumstellar discs are believed to be key components in planetary formation. However, we have very little actual evidence of planets growing in the “rings” that surround young stars. So planet formation theorists were ecstatic to learn that two new papers in Astrophysical Journal Letters describe a planet that is actively forming in the gap it most likely created in the ring system of a young, Sun-like star.