Astronomers have discovered what may be the smallest alien planet yet — a rocky ``SuperEarth'' only four times heavier than our home planet. picked by AutumnLotus 3 months ago

Astronomers have announced the discovery of a fifth planet circling 55 Cancri, a star beyond our solar system. The star now holds the record for number of confirmed extrasolar planets orbiting in a planetary system. picked by AutumnLotus 10 months ago

An international team of astronomers with the Trans-atlantic Exoplanet Survey announce today the discovery of TrES-4, a new extrasolar planet in the constellation of Hercules. The new planet was identified by astronomers looking for transiting planets – that is, planets that pass in front of their home star – using a network of small automated telescopes. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

Theorists have what they think is a good handle on how rocky planets like Earth form. Leftovers of star formation collide, stick together and eventually form a ball of rock. However, the formation of gas giant planets is more mysterious. picked by AutumnLotus 9 months ago

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg have discovered the youngest known extrasolar planet. Its host star is still surrounded by the disk of gas and dust from which it was only recently born. This discovery allows scientists to draw important conclusions about the timing of planet formation. picked by AutumnLotus 8 months ago

An extrasolar planet about one-fourth the heft of Jupiter might have formed from the collision and merger of two planets, astronomers announced today. Known as 2M1207B, the object orbits a brown-dwarf star called 2M1207A located 170 light-years from Earth and seen in the direction of the constellation Centaurus. picked by AutumnLotus 8 months ago

Astronomers have discovered the first known planet to survive its "red-giant" phase, a period when an aging star expands and engulfs bodies orbiting it. The discovery of the gas-giant planet three times the size of Jupiter offers a look at the future of our own solar system and what will happen to the Earth when the sun grows old and collapses. picked by AutumnLotus 12 months ago

The tell-tale signature of the molecule methane in the atmosphere of the Jupiter-sized extrasolar planet HD 189733b has been found with the Hubble Space Telescope. Under the right circumstances methane can play a key role in prebiotic chemistry – the chemical reactions considered necessary to form life as we know it. picked by AutumnLotus 6 months ago

Rocky extrasolar planets thought to be half frozen and half scorched might instead rock back and forth, creating large swaths of twilight with temperatures suitable for life. picked by AutumnLotus 9 months ago

Rocky planets, possibly with conditions suitable for life, may be more common than previously thought in our galaxy, a study has found. New evidence suggests more than half the Sun-like stars in the Milky Way could have similar planetary systems. picked by mahler87 7 months ago

Astronomers with the Trans-atlantic Exoplanet Survey today announce the discovery of their third planet, TrES-3 in the constellation Hercules about 10 degrees west of Vega. The new planet was identified by astronomers looking for transiting planets — that is, planets that pass in front of their home star. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

The India’s smallest land vertebrate, a 10-millimeter frog, has been discovered from the Western Ghats of Kerala by Delhi University Systematics Biologist, S D Biju and his colleagues. picked by AutumnLotus 11 months ago

Planet-seekers who have spotted 28 new planets orbiting other stars in the past year say Earth's solar system is far from unique and there could be billions of habitable planets. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

Science fiction may soon become science fact. Astronomers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have recently concluded that the upcoming planet-finding mission, SIM PlanetQuest, would be able to detect an Earth-like planet around the star 40 Eridani, a planet familiar to "Star Trek" fans as "Vulcan." picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

Not even a match for a pop can in size, Heaven Sent Brandy is the world’s smallest dog — in length, that is. But we don’t care how this little gem made her claim to fame, the diminutive Chihuahua is just too cute not to cover. picked by MasterPiece 7 months ago

Chondritic meteorites have a similar chemical composition to the sun and are therefore reliable witnesses as to what the solar nebula, from which the planets formed, was composed of. This can be used to deduce what the Earth consists of chemically. However, ETH Zurich researchers have now discovered that strictly speaking this fundamental geological assumption is not true. picked by AutumnLotus 4 months ago

A teenager from India who stands at a tiny 1ft 11in (58cm) tall is the smallest girl in the world.

Jyoti Amge, 14, is shorter than the average two-year-old child and only weighs 11lb (5kg). picked by AutumnLotus 5 months ago

Small, rocky planets that could resemble the Earth or Mars may be forming around a star in the Pleiades star cluster. One of the stars in the cluster, also known as the Seven Sisters, is surrounded by an extraordinary number of hot dust particles that could be the "building blocks of planets". picked by AutumnLotus 10 months ago

As of July 20, the latest available date, 246 extrasolar planets had been detected circling other stars in the Milky Way galaxy. Among them are 25 alien "solar systems" consisting of two, three or four bodies orbiting single suns. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

For the first time, astronomers have observed the initial phase in the formation of an earth-like planet. What astronomers observed was that a protoplanetary disk, or ring, around the binary star known as KH 15D, is composed of solid particles larger than what is usually observed in space. picked by AutumnLotus 6 months ago