Sun-like star Archives

Kiel diagram for 290 stars with 5000 K ≤ Teff ≤ 6500 K and log g ≥ 4.0 dex analyzed in this work. The dashed black lines present the solar values obtained for the Ceres 2009-02-08 solar spectrum, Teff = 5759±18 K, log g = 4.43±0.05 dex and [Fe/H] = 0.00±0.01 dex. -- astro-ph.EP

Chemical Abundances of the Bioessential Elements C, O and S, and the Refractory Elements

by Keith CowingJuly 3, 2026July 3, 2026

[astro-ph.EP] We determined atmospheric and evolutionary parameters, along with chemical abundances of C, O, S, Fe, and Ni for 290 solar-type exoplanet hosting stars using high-resolution HARPS-North and HARPS-South spectra, […]

This illustration depicts the Sun-like star TOI-791 and two giant planets that NASA's TESS space telescope discovered in its orbit. These planets, designated TOI-791 b and TOI-791 c, are roughly the size of Jupiter but a tiny fraction of its mass, meaning they have an extraordinarily low density. NASA / Daniel Rutter

Uncategorized

TESS Reveals The Puffiest Exoplanets Ever Found

by Keith CowingJune 26, 2026June 26, 2026

Data from NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) mission has revealed two new “super-puff” planets, giant worlds so light that their density is comparable to cotton candy. Scientists calculate that […]

An artist’s conception of a star engulfing a planet. The blue lines traces the path of the planet as it spirals toward the star and ultimately collides with it (the planet is partially as it crashes into the left-hand side of the star). Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Ralf Crawford (STScI)

Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Stellar Cartography

A Sunlike Star Ate A Planet

by Keith CowingJune 16, 2026June 16, 2026

A team of astronomers, led by Brooke Kotten of the University of Michigan, has shown that TOI-5882—a sun-like star located some 1,300 light-years away—has likely eaten one of its planets.

Overview of the simulation pipeline components used in this work. The modeling begins with hwo pol, a Poke front-end we constructed tailored to modeling the EACs. The ray trace file and coating data are fed to Poke which computes the Jones pupils and saves them as a FITS file. These data are loaded into hwo sim and applied on top of the phase and amplitude errors encountered by propagating through the OTA and tertiary collimator assembly (TCA, mirrors 3-5). The now polarization aberrated field is propagated through a scalar diffraction model, subject to jacobianfree wavefront control with perfect knowledge of the electric field. Using this control simulation, we can save a series of intensity images into a Yield Input Package, which is sent to the FRIDAY AYO calculator to close the loop to exoEarth yields. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Connecting Polarization To Exoplanet Yield Calculations For Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO)

by Keith CowingJune 13, 2026June 13, 2026

The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) aims to enable the detection and characterization of Earth-like planets around Sun-like stars to search for possible signs of life elsewhere in our universe.

Astronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Exploring Exoplanets with Interferometry

by Keith CowingJune 11, 2026June 11, 2026

(Extract from the Executive Summary) Humanity stands at the threshold of answering one of its most profound questions: Does life exist beyond Earth?

Upper: Transit depths of V1298 Tau e as a function of wavelength, reduced with Eureka!. The blue and red curves show the best-fit transmission spectra from our free re- trieval with and without CS2, respectively. Including CS2 yields a decisive improvement in the Bayesian evidence (∆ ln Z = 33.2), corresponding to an 8.4σpreference. Lower: Absorption cross sections of the nine dominant molecular species included in our free retrieval and forward model. While a wider range of additional species were explored using POSEIDON opacity database, CS2 uniquely reproduces both the∼4.6–4.7 µm feature and the sharpened peak near ∼4.3 µm that cannot be explained by CO2 or CO alone. -- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Photochemical CS2 Gas Detected On A 20-Myr-old Exoplanet

by Keith CowingJune 3, 2026June 3, 2026

Probing the atmospheres of young exoplanets offers a powerful window into how planetary systems evolve and the physical and chemical processes that drive those early evolutions.

A demonstration of the limitations of the PSPT data processing pipeline, which did not process the limb uniformly with the rest of the Solar disc. The solid blue line is the stated extent of the solar disk in the original dataset, and the dashed red line is the extent to which the data has been cleaned. Note between the red and blue lines there exists a slight intensity increase — an example of the difference between the processed and unprocessed data separated by this boundary. -- astro-ph.SR

Astronomy & Telescopes, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Space Weather & Heliophysics, Status Report, Stellar Cartography

Astrometric Exoplanet Detection Survives Solar-like Stellar Contamination

by Keith CowingMay 23, 2026May 23, 2026

Astrometric monitoring of stars provides a promising method for discovery of low-mass planets around nearby Sun-like stars.

Hertzsprung-Russell diagram of the stellar catalogue. The Sun is shown as a reference and the letters stand for the spectral type. The grey lines represent evolutionary tracks of the Spelaion grid selected by fixing the initial chemical composition to X0 = 0.72 and Z0 = 0.018, and setting αov = 0. - astro-ph.SR

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Space Weather & Heliophysics, Stellar Cartography

Asteroseismic Modelling Of Main-sequence Solar-like Stars And Kepler Exoplanet Host Stars With The FICO Procedure I. Catalogue Of Fundamental Stellar Properties

by Keith CowingMay 1, 2026May 1, 2026

We present detailed asteroseismic modelling of 95 main-sequence solar-like stars and Kepler exoplanet host stars using the FICO procedure, a three-step method that combines forward and inverse techniques that enables […]

Injection–recovery maps over each of our six injection–recovery target bins that span different TESS magnitudes (columns) and nonrotating (top row) and rotating targets (bottom row) showing our pipeline’s sensitivity to transiting planet signals across period–Rp/R⋆ space. Each cell in this recursive structure contains at least 50 injected planets, with the black grid denoting the boundaries of each cell. -- The Astronomical Journal

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Press Release, Stellar Cartography

The Most Common Planets In The Galaxy Don’t Appear Around The Most Common Stars

by Keith CowingApril 30, 2026April 30, 2026

Astronomers now estimate there is at least one planet for every star in our galaxy. These worlds, called exoplanets, are planets that orbit stars outside our solar system. But new […]

The picture was taken from the top of the LSS after the chamber was reopened. It gives us a direct view of Plato’s 26 ultrasensitive cameras. These are the special eyes that the mission will use to monitor more than 150 000 bright stars at the same time, hunting for terrestrial planets orbiting Sun-like stars. -- ESA Larger image

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, PLATO, Press Release

Astrobiology Mission Update: Plato Habitable Exoplanet Hunter Integration

by Keith CowingApril 27, 2026April 27, 2026

The European Space Agency Plato mission has successfully completed a series of tough tests under space‑like conditions. With this accomplishment, the spacecraft is on track to lift off in early […]

Sun-like star

Chemical Abundances of the Bioessential Elements C, O and S, and the Refractory Elements

TESS Reveals The Puffiest Exoplanets Ever Found

A Sunlike Star Ate A Planet

Connecting Polarization To Exoplanet Yield Calculations For Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO)

Exploring Exoplanets with Interferometry

Photochemical CS2 Gas Detected On A 20-Myr-old Exoplanet

Astrometric Exoplanet Detection Survives Solar-like Stellar Contamination

Asteroseismic Modelling Of Main-sequence Solar-like Stars And Kepler Exoplanet Host Stars With The FICO Procedure I. Catalogue Of Fundamental Stellar Properties

The Most Common Planets In The Galaxy Don’t Appear Around The Most Common Stars

Astrobiology Mission Update: Plato Habitable Exoplanet Hunter Integration

White Paper On Phototrophic Biosignatures: Research Priorities For The Search For Life On Other Worlds

Autonomous AI-Cosmoindustry and the Quiet Expansion Filter: A Threshold-Based Resolution of the Fermi Paradox

A Scalable Path to Astrometric Exomoon Discoveries with the Nautilus Space Observatory

20 Years Later: The ALH 84001 Debate in Context with Viking’s Results. Lessons Learned and Portals Opened

Ocean Planet Research: 31 New Species Discovered in Two Weeks of Deep Sea Exploration