Is Proxima c hiding in this graph? This unusual Picture of the Week showcases the latest data gathered by ESO’s exoplanet hunter, the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS), […]
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Posted inAstrochemistry, Press Release
ALMA Finds Methyl Isocyanate Around Infant Sun-like Stars
ALMA has observed stars like the Sun at a very early stage in their formation and found traces of methyl isocyanate — a chemical building block of life. This is […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release
Newly Discovered Exoplanet May be Best Candidate in Search for Signs of Life
An exoplanet orbiting a red dwarf star 40 light-years from Earth may be the new holder of the title “best place to look for signs of life beyond the Solar […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Press Release
First Sighting Of A Water Snow Line Around A Young Star
Young stars are often surrounded by dense, rotating discs of gas and dust, known as protoplanetary discs, from which planets are born. The heat from a typical young solar-type star […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Press Release
First Detection of Methyl Alcohol in a Planet-forming Disc
The organic molecule methyl alcohol (methanol) has been found by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in the TW Hydrae protoplanetary disc. This is the first such detection of the […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release
Three Potentially Habitable Worlds Found Around Nearby Ultracool Dwarf Star
Astronomers using the TRAPPIST telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory have discovered three planets orbiting an ultracool dwarf star just 40 light-years from Earth. These worlds have sizes and temperatures […]
Posted inMars, Press Release
Mars Lost an Ocean's Worth of Water
A primitive ocean on Mars once held more water than Earth’s Arctic Ocean, according to NASA scientists who measured signatures of water in the planet’s atmosphere using the most powerful […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
First Planet Found Around Solar Twin in Star Cluster Messier 67
Astronomers have used ESO’s HARPS planet hunter in Chile, along with other telescopes around the world, to discover three planets orbiting stars in the cluster Messier 67. Although more than […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Snow In An Infant Planetary System
A snow line has been imaged in a far-off infant planetary system for the very first time. The snow line, located in the disc around the Sun-like star TW Hydrae, […]