Exoplanets

The very first direct image of a Sun-like star - TYC 8998-760-1 - with two gas giant planets in orbit around it. The image was captured using the Very Large Telescope. Credit: ESO/Bohn et al.

Gas giant exoplanets imaged orbiting a Sun-like star

Could there be life on exoplanet KOI-456.04? Credit: EnricoAgostoni

Earth-sized exoplanet found hiding around Sun-like star

An artist's impression of Earth-like exoplanet Kepler-186f. Credit: NASA

Earth-like exoplanets may be more common than thought

Astronomer Dr Savannah Jacklin. Backdrop: an artist's impression of the WFIRST telescope in operation. Credit: Savannah Jacklin / NASA

Interview How the WFIRST telescope will search for exoplanets

Artist's concept of a Jupiter-mass exoplanet orbiting the nearby star Epsilon Eridani. Credit: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)

How the Hubble Space Telescope is used to study exoplanets

An artist’s impression of what each of the the TRAPPIST-1 planets might look like, based on available data about their sizes, masses and orbital distances. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Seeking out new worlds: a guide to the latest exoplanet-hunting missions

Cloud City, as seen in the Lego Star Wars series. Copyright: Disney XD / Getty Images. Used with permission.

How realistic are Star Wars planets?

The NEID instrument, mounted on the 3.5-meter WIYN telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Credit: NSF's National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory/KPNO/NSF/AURA

Interview How NASA-funded NEID instrument will weigh exoplanets

An artist's rendering of hot Jupiter exoplanet KELT-9b, the hottest known exoplanet. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Hottest exoplanet discovered causes molecular hydrogen meltdown

What type of life could there be on an exoplanet? Credit: MPRIV/iStock/Getty Images

Could an exoplanet’s atmosphere indicate the presence of life?

Willy Benz, Principal Investigator of the CHEOPS spacecraft. Credit: SPACE/UNIBE/Alessandro Della Bella

Interview How ESA's CHEOPS mission will study exoplanets

Artist's impression of lightning storms on Jupiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/JunoCam

Could exoplanets host a global electric current?

An artist's concept showing ARIEL in orbit. Credit: ESA/STFC RAL Space/UCL/Europlanet-Science Office

NASA’s CASE instrument added to ESA’s ARIEL exoplanet mission

A 2D surface map of Earth, treated as a proxy exoplanet, shows the continents in green and seas in blue. Credit: Steng Fan

Is it possible to make a map of an exoplanet?

The Sun shows us how sunspots appear dark against a star. Credit: SOHO (ESA & NASA)

Observing spots on distant stars