Exoplanets

Exoplanets

star vs planet vs brown dwarf
Red dwarfs are the Universe's most common star type. Their flaring now makes potentially Earth-like worlds uninhabitable, but just you wait.
24mins
“Deep down the natural endpoint of this whole goal of looking for planets is to answer the question: are we alone?”
A colorful, irregular galaxy with bright clusters of stars, some possibly from a generation stars before sun, and nebulae against a dark background scattered with distant stars.
Our Sun only arose after 9.2 billion years of cosmic history: with many stars living and dying first. How many prior generations were there?
From the vastness of space, Earth at night reveals its exo-earth beauty, with illuminated continents showcasing a tapestry of lights across North and South America. Major cities and regions emerge from the glowing darkness, painting a vivid picture against the backdrop of oceans.
In 2025, Earth remains the only planet where life is known to exist. Without a second example, "The Stand" has a vital lesson to teach us.
From here on Earth, looking farther away in space means looking farther back in time. So what are distant Earth-watchers seeing right now?
A bright, circular blue and white object is centered against a black background, with a smaller red object to the lower left.
Going back to 1990, we hadn't even found one planet outside of our Solar System. As we close in on 6000, we now see many of them directly.
A dark, rocky planet orbits in space with the sun illuminating its edge, surrounded by stars and distant cosmic clouds.
In the search for life in the Universe, the ultimate goal is to find an inhabited planet beyond Earth. How will we know when we've made it?
5000 exoplanets
Somewhere, at some point in the history of our Universe, life arose. We're evidence of that here on Earth, but many big puzzles remain.
every square degree
When the Hubble Space Telescope first launched in 1990, there was so much we didn't know. Here's how far we've come.