Wide Angle: Age of the Exoplanet

Batch of 50 New Alien Worlds Discovered

Astronomers have announced the discovery of 50 (yes, five-zero) exoplanets, the largest group of alien worlds announced at one time.

HD 85512b -- Portrait of a Super-Earth: Big Pics

The find is the largest exoplanet discovery yet and includes at least one very Earth-like world.

Pale Red Dot: Desert Planets as Abodes for Life?

Desert-like terrestrial planets may be great places to buy real estate, and there are probably lots of them to choose from in our galaxy.

Phantom Menace Bullies Alien World

The exoplanet Kepler-19b is being perturbed by the gravity of another, invisible world.

Oddball Exoplanet is Darker than Coal

An alien world reflects less than one percent of the starlight that falls on it, making it the blackest exoplanet known.

Top Exoplanets for Alien Life: Photos

The movie "Cowboys & Aliens" got us wondering which exoplanets found so far might be candidates for alien life?

Can Planets In Roller Coaster Orbits Be Habitable?

Can a planet in a elliptical orbit be habitable if it spends only part of its time in a "Goldilocks" zone?

The Beautiful Violence of Exoplanet Aurorae

If you think the auroral displays we have on Earth are impressive, spare a thought for aurorae erupting in the atmospheres of massive gas giant exoplanets orbiting close to their parent stars.

Rocky, Low-Mass World Discovered via Microlensing

Although few exoplanets have been detected using this technique, it's finding worlds that challenge planetary formation models.

Kepler's Insight to Physical Nature of Planetary Systems

Of the170 multiple-planet systems of two or more planets found so far by Kepler, many have remarkably flat orbits.

Gliese 581d: An Exoplanet Fit for Humans?

The world -- located 20 light-years from Earth -- might sustain liquid water, but it would be a very alien place to visit.

Meet Kepler's Entire Exoplanet Family : Big Pic

In a spectacular visualization, the entire collection of Kepler's stars and associated 1,235 exoplanets have been plotted together.

Milky Way Stuffed with 50 Billion Alien Worlds

Using Kepler observations, an estimate of the number of exoplanets populating our galaxy has been made.

Exoplanet Bonanza Boosts Count by 1,200

Dozens of candidate worlds reside within the "habitable zones" of their parent stars.

Tiny, Earth-Like Planet Discovered

The rocky planet is the "missing link" in the search for worlds beyond our own.

'Earth-Like Planet' Deja Vu

Once again, the dog-eared phrase "Earthlike planet" hit the press when referring to Kepler-10b.

Kepler Scientist: 'Galaxy is Rich in Earth-Like Planets'

Kepler co-investigator Dimitar Sasselov preempted the official announcement that the space telescope had discovered about 140 candidate worlds orbiting other stars that are "like Earth."

Did Kepler Astronomer Really Jump the Gun?

This exploded last week when a Web-replayed public talk by a member of the Kepler space telescope science team went viral –- at least among astronomy geeks who closely follow NASA’s ambitious planet-hunting observatory.

Kepler Exoplanet Controversy Erupts

How should Kepler data be made available to the astronomical community? With care.

Smaller Planets Rule the Galaxy

Despite the controversy, despite the fact that they are "candidate" worlds, Kepler is showing us that smaller planets dominate the galaxy.

Astronomers on Verge of Finding Habitable Worlds

The discovery of an Earth-like, extrasolar planet could happen sooner than you think.

Kepler's Exoplanets: A Personal Quest

Searching for alien worlds using the cutting-edge Kepler space telescope would be the pinnacle of anyone's career, but what does it take to be an exoplanet hunter? We ask Kepler co-investigator Ted Dunham to find out more.

Hunting Alien Worlds

In this special interview, Travis Barman, an astronomer who seeks out exoplanets, discusses the historic night when his Keck Observatory team directly imaged an alien solar system for the first time.

'Goldilocks' Zone Bigger Than Once Thought

To find worlds within the "Goldilocks" zone, where conditions to support life are just right, look no further than our own solar system.

Super-Earths Orbit Neighboring Stars

The discovery of up to six planets breaks new ground in the search for worlds like our own.

'Waterworld' Super-Earth Discovered

It's 6.5 times the mass of Earth and its average density seems to be that of water. Although this super-Earth is likely to have a hellishly hot atmosphere, oceans of liquid water may reside there.

Avatar's 'Pandora' Could be a Reality

VIDEOS: Find out the science behind the blockbuster movie Avitar.  

The fantasy world in the hit movie Avatar is a moon orbiting an extra-solar planet in a star system a few light years from Earth. Pandora may be fictional, but it is thought that habitable "exomoons" do exist.