The latest in Planetary Science

Mars Orbiter

2010-03-03T16:31:47Z

In this image released by NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona showing a view of an inverted crater in the Arabia Terra region of Mars that is among the images taken by NASA's European So...

Astronomers spot 'super-Earth' 80 light years away

2010-02-22T23:21:42Z

<div><p>US astronomers have detected the second smallest exoplanet ever discovered with a mass just four times heavier than the Earth, adding to a growing number of low-mass planets dubbed "super-Earths."</p><p>"This is quite a remarkable discovery," said Andrew Howard, an astronomer at the ...

Astronomers: We could find Earth-like planets soon

2010-02-22T23:52:54Z

<div id="subtitle">Excited astronomers say they could find Earth-like planets in just a few years</div><div><p>Astronomers say they are on the verge of finding planets like Earth orbiting other stars, a key step in determining if we are alone in the universe.</p><p>A top NASA official and other leading scientists say that within four or five years they should discover the f...

EARTHLIKE PLANETS

2010-01-07T14:17:35Z

Graphic shows annual number of Earth-like planets discovered

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Earth-Like Planets

2010-01-07T14:17:34Z

This infrared photo provided by NASA and taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope, shows a region of space called W5 where astronomers are looking at planet formation. A top NASA official and other leading scientists say that within four or five years they should discover the first Earth-like planet located in a spot outside our solar system where life could develop, or may have alre...

NASA's Kepler telescope finds five new planets

2010-02-23T01:12:38Z

<div><p>NASA's Kepler space telescope has discovered five new planets beyond the solar system, the US space agency has said, just 10 months after Kepler launched into space to find Earth-like planets.</p><p>The discovery of the five planets "contributes to our understanding of how planetary systems form and evolve from the gas and dust disks th...

NASA's Kepler space telescope finds 5 new planets

2010-02-23T01:22:54Z

<div><p> NASA's Kepler space telescope has discovered five new planets beyond the solar system, the US space agency said, just 10 months after Kepler launched into space to find Earth-like planets.</p><p>The discovery of the five planets "contributes to our understanding of how planetary systems form and evolve from the gas and dust disks that ...

NASA's Kepler space telescope finds five new exoplanets

2010-02-23T01:29:07Z

<div><p>NASA's Kepler space telescope has discovered five new planets beyond the solar system, the US space agency said Monday, just 10 months after Kepler launched into space to find Earth-like planets.</p><p>The discovery of the five exoplanets "contributes to our understanding of how planetary systems form and evolve from the gas and dust di...

Planet Hunter

2010-01-04T14:45:57Z

This image taken by the Kepler telescope and released by NASA Thursday, April 16, 2009, shows an expansive, 100-square-degree patch of sky in our Milky Way galaxy where it hopes to find Earth-like planets. Launched in March, Kepler will spend 3 1/2 years studying these stars in search of small, rocky planets. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL CALTECH)

Stuck Mars rover struggles with faulty wheel

2010-02-23T17:54:16Z

<div id="subtitle">Faulty wheel complicates mission to free Mars rover from sand trap it's been stuck in 8 months</div><div><p>A faulty wheel on the Mars rover Spirit is complicating efforts to free it from a sand trap where it has been stuck for the past eight months.</p><p>NASA said Thursday it will continue to run...

NASA to try to free stuck Mars rover Spirit

2010-02-24T06:36:19Z

<div id="subtitle">Stuck Mars rover Spirit to get roadside assistance from NASA in risky maneuver</div><div><p>For NASA's stuck Mars rover, the Spirit may be willing, but the wheels could prove too weak. The space agency on Thursday outlined a rescue plan to try to free the rover Spirit, which has been bogged in a sand trap on the red planet fo...

Europeans find 32 new planets outside solar system

2010-02-24T17:16:51Z

<div id="subtitle">Cosmic population boom: European astronomers find 32 new planets outside solar system</div><div><p>European astronomers have found 32 new planets outside our solar system, adding evidence to the theory that the universe has many places where life could develop. Scientists using the European Southern Observatory telescope didn't find ...

Star gazers spot 32 new exoplanets

2010-02-24T17:07:55Z

<div><p>Astronomers announced Monday the discovery of 32 new planets outside our solar system, some of them only a few times larger than Earth.</p><p>The relatively small size increases the odds that these so-called exoplanets could have conditions similar to the ones that gave rise to life on Earth.</p><p>Scientists made the finds using the Reuters) - European astronomers announced they had found 32 new planets orbiting stars outside our solar system and said on Monday they believe their find means that 40 percent or more of Sun-like stars have such planets.</p><p>The planets range in size from about five times the size of Earth to about five times the size of

Huge new ring spotted around Saturn

2010-02-24T21:51:40Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists have spotted a huge new ring around Saturn -- the largest planetary ring seen yet in the solar system.</p><p>The faint ring, made of tiny particles, partly marks the orbit of Saturn's distant moon Phoebe, Anne Verbisce...

Rocky Planet

2009-10-02T06:30:53Z

This image provided by the European Southern Observatory Wednesday Sept. 16, 2009 shows an artist rendition of the first rocky extrasolar planet called Corot-7b. European astronomers confirmed the first rocky extrasolar planet Wednesday. According to scientists the planet is so close to it's sun that its surface temperature is more than 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit, too toasty to sustain life. It circles its st...

Found: Firm place to stand outside solar system

2010-02-25T06:51:22Z

<div id="subtitle">A cosmic but too hot place to stand: Astronomers find first rocky planet outside solar system</div><div><p>Astronomers have finally found a place outside our solar system where there's a firm place to stand — if only it weren't so broiling hot.</p><p>As scientists search the skies for life elsewhere, they have found more than 300 planets outside our solar system. But they all have been gas ball...

Scientists say "super-Earth" has rocky surface

2010-02-25T06:50:08Z

<div><p>LONDON (Reuters) - Detailed data about the smallest planet ever found outside our solar system suggest it is a rocky "super-Earth" world very like our own, European astronomers said on Wednesday.</p><p>The so-called exoplanet, whose initial discovery was announced in February, has a mass five times that of Earth, which when combined with its radius suggests it has a s...

SPACE-EXOPLANET-COROT-7B

2009-09-16T03:41:36Z

RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USEEMBARGO UNTIL SEPTEMBER 16, 2009, 10:00 CESTArtist impression released by ESO on September 16, 2009 shows the smallest and fastest-orbiting exoplanet known, CoRoT-7b (foreground), around a star named as CoRoT-7, located towards the constellation of Monoceros (the Unicorn) at a distance of about 500 light-years. The longest set of HARPS measurements ever made has firmly established the nature of the smallest and fastest-orbiting exoplanet known, CoRoT-7b, revealing its ...