Super-Earth's atmosphere analysed for first time
1 December 2010
A planet 6.5 times as massive as Earth called GJ 1214b has an atmosphere dominated by steam or cloudy haze, new observations suggest
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Found 393 results for dwarf planet
Former 'tenth planet' may be smaller than Pluto
8 November 2010
Eris, a distant body that triggered the debate about what constitutes a planet, may actually be smaller than Pluto, according to new observations
First life-friendly exoplanet may not exist
13 October 2010
Two weeks after one team of astronomers announced finding the habitable planet Gliese 581 g, another team says it can find no evidence of the world in its data
Found: first rocky exoplanet that could host life
29 September 2010
A rocky body about three times as massive as Earth has been found in the cosy "habitable zone" around its star – the find suggests habitable planets are common
Prehistoric humans may have pushed climate change
7 July 2010
Humans were fiddling with climate thousands of years even before we started farming – if we had a hand in the extinction of woolly mammoths
Stellar 'pollution' may be remains of watery planets
12 April 2010
Atmospheric pollution on white dwarf stars could be a sign of destroyed watery exoplanets – suggesting that Earth-like worlds are common
'Dark sun' is one of our nearest neighbours
9 April 2010
A dim object less than 10 light years away seems to be the closest brown dwarf yet found – the discovery suggests other dark stars may lie even closer
Failed stellar bombs hint at supernova tipping point
13 November 2009
Two peculiar white dwarfs with more oxygen than carbon are like nothing anybody has seen before
Planet Pluto
16 September 2009
As Stephen Battersby's article shows, debate continues within the astronomical community over the status of Pluto and many other significant celestial bodies in the...
Apollo meets astrology: Buzz Aldrin and Gustav Holst
12 June 2009
The Apollo 11 astronaut joined the Boston Pops for a performance that reminds us how much our understanding of the solar system has been transformed by science
