exoplanets

Webb telescope detects heavy water on an exoplanet for the first time

An international team of astronomers has reported the first detection of semi-heavy water in the atmosphere of an exoplanet, using the James Webb Space Telescope to analyze the hot Jupiter WASP-39b roughly 700 light-years from Earth. The finding, published on…

Astronomers confirm first atmosphere on a rocky planet in the habitable zone

Astronomers have for the first time confirmed an atmosphere around a rocky, temperate planet beyond our solar system, a discovery that marks a turning point in the decades-long search for potentially habitable worlds.

Astronomers discover faintest exoplanet ever imaged from Earth

After more than a decade of hiding in plain sight, a third planet has been confirmed orbiting the young star Beta Pictoris — and it is the faintest exoplanet ever directly imaged from Earth.

NASA’s Webb reveals hidden planet in Beta Pictoris system

Astronomers have confirmed the discovery of Beta Pictoris d, a giant gas planet that hid in plain sight for more than a decade, making it the faintest exoplanet ever directly imaged from Earth. NASA released the findings on Wednesday, July…

Webb telescope detects atmosphere on planet orbiting a dead star

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has delivered the first atmospheric characterization of a planet orbiting a dead star, solving the mystery of how a Jupiter-sized world ended up in an impossibly tight orbit around a white dwarf remnant — and…

ESA’s Euclid telescope captures 60 million stars in record Milky Way image

The European Space Agency's Euclid space telescope has produced the largest and most detailed visible-light photograph ever taken of the Milky Way's galactic center, revealing more than 60 million stars in a six-gigapixel mosaic released on Wednesday, June 24.

Webb telescope finds salt clouds on the ‘Pink Planet’

New observations from the James Webb Space Telescope have uncovered clouds made of salt swirling through the atmosphere of GJ504b, a mysterious magenta-hued world discovered more than a decade ago. The finding, published Wednesday in the Astronomical Journal, provides some…