Exoplanets TOP STORY
Five Earth-Size Planets Discovered by NASA's Kepler Spacecraft 
© Iowa State University/Tiago Campante/Peter Devine
Illustration.
Astronomers poring over four years of data from NASA's Kepler spacecraft have discovered a star that's 11.2 billion years old and has at least five Earth-size planets.
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Exoplanets
Reborn Kepler Makes First Exoplanet Find of New Mission
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Kepler's Field of View
NASA's planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft makes a comeback with the discovery of the first exoplanet found using its new mission -- K2.
Exoplanets
Ground-Based Detection of Super-Earth Transit
For the first time, a team of astronomers have measured the passing of a super-Earth in front of a bright, nearby Sun-like star using a ground-based telescope.
Exoplanets
Pulling together the Early Solar System
A new study finds that a strong magnetic field whipped the early solar system into shape.
Exoplanets
Video: Exoplanet Q & Alien 
In this inaugural edition of Exoplanet Q & Alien, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Josh Rodriguez explains some of the techniques used for direct imaging of "exoplanets" -- planets outside of our solar system.
Exoplanets
Exploring The Birth of a Planet
Dr. John Carr, a scientist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, is part of an international team that has discovered what they believe is evidence of a planet forming around a star about 335 light years from Earth.
Exoplanets
Young Binary Star System May Form planets With Weird Orbits
Unlike our solitary Sun, most stars form in binary pairs -- two stars that orbit a common center of mass. Though remarkably plentiful, binaries pose a number of questions, including how and where planets form in such complex environments.
Exoplanets
The Hubble Space Telescope Finds Three Surprisingly Dry Exoplanets
Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have gone looking for water vapor in the atmospheres of three planets orbiting stars similar to the sun -- and have come up nearly dry.
Exoplanets
Researchers Discover Transiting Exoplanet with Longest Known Year
Astronomers have discovered a transiting exoplanet with the longest known year. Kepler-421b circles its star once every 704 days.
Exoplanets
New Technique Used for Sun-like Stars Reveal Their Ages
Defining what makes a star "Sun-like" is as difficult as defining what makes a planet "Earth-like." A solar twin should have a temperature, mass, and spectral type similar to our Sun.
Exoplanets
Possible Exomoon Found
Titan, Europa, Io and Phobos are just a few members of our solar system's pantheon of moons. Are there are other moons out there, orbiting planets beyond our sun?
Exoplanets
Studying Other Worlds with the Help of a Starshade
This animation shows the prototype starshade, a giant structure designed to block the glare of stars so that future space telescopes can take pictures of planets.
Exoplanets
Death Stars in Orion Blast Planets Before They Even Form
The Orion Nebula is home to hundreds of young stars and even younger protostars known as proplyds.
Exoplanets
Nearby Star's Icy Debris Suggests 'Shepherd' Planet
An international team of astronomers exploring the disk of gas and dust around a nearby star have uncovered a compact cloud of poisonous gas formed by ongoing rapid-fire collisions among a swarm of icy, comet-like bodies.
Exoplanets
Kepler Finds a Very Wobbly Planet
Imagine living on a planet with seasons so erratic you would hardly know whether to wear Bermuda shorts or a heavy overcoat.
Exoplanets
Hubble Hangout: Disk Detective - Finding the Birthplace of Planets
Scientists are combing the galaxy looking for stars that could be harboring planet-forming disks. They need your help to explain this puzzling part of stellar evolution.
More top stories from February.
Exoplanets Mission Reports
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Latest Video
Video: Exoplanet Q & Alien
Studying Other Worlds with the Help of a Starshade
Nearby Star's Icy Debris Suggests 'Shepherd' Planet
Hubble Hangout: Disk Detective - Finding the Birthplace of Planets
The Attraction of Hot Jupiters
Hubble's Universe Unfiltered: Planet Discoveries Revisited
Project 1640 Sees Exoplanets 128 Light Years Away
Exoplanets Detection, Atmospheres and Habitability Lecture
Hubble Captures Dramatic Changes on a Faraway Planet
JPL Proposes FINESSE Mission for Exoplanets Atmosphere Detection
James Cameron on Avatar
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