Assuming for a moment that life exists on some exoplanets, how might researchers detect it? This is hardly a new question. More than ten years ago, competing teams of exo-scientists and engineers came up with proposals for a NASA flagship space observatory capable of identifying possible biosignatures on distant planets. No consensus was reached, however, …
The IAU on ExoNames
The IAU, in the person of Executive Committee member and former General Secretary Thierry Montmerle, wrote the following response to an earlier column, "(Mostly) Thumbs Down on ExoNames." The response to the article was first posted as a comment on the Many Worlds site, but to ensure that it is seen by readers I …
Einstein, Cosmic Religion and the "Unaffiliated"
Spending time immersed in the world of exoplanets raises questions of all sorts, and some lead down unexpected pathways. In the aftermath of the 100th anniversary of the publication of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, another part of the great man’s legacy has entered into my life in a way both surprising and satisfying. I’ll …
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How Will We Know What Exoplanets Look Like, and When?
An earlier version of this article was accidently published last week before it was completed. This is the finished version, with information from this week's AAS annual conference. Let's face it: the field of exoplanets has a significant deficit when it comes to producing drop-dead beautiful pictures. We all know why. Exoplanets are just too …
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(Mostly) Thumbs Down on ExoNames
The name 51 Pegasi B, the first planet identified outside of our solar system, has been eclipsed. Now it is Dimidium. The (at least) five planet system orbiting the star formerly known as 55 Cancri now circles the star Copernicus. And those planets 55 Cancri B, C, D, E, and F are Galileo, Brahe, Lippershey, …
Enceladus and Water Worlds
As if the prospect of billions of potentially habitable exoplanets wasn't enough to get people excited, what about all those watery exo-moons too? The question arises as the Cassini mission makes its final pass near the now famous geysers at the south pole of the moon Enceladus ,scheduled for Saturday. The plumes are currently in …
The Borderland Where Stars and Planets Meet
Results from two very different papers in recent weeks have brought home one of the more challenging and intriguing aspects of large exoplanet hunting: that some exoplanets the mass of Jupiter and above share characteristics with small, cool stars. And as a result, telling the two apart can sometimes be a challenge. This conclusion does …
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Faint Worlds On the Far Horizon
For thinking about the enormity of the canvas of potential suns and exoplanets, I find images like this and what they tell us to be an awkward combination of fascinating and daunting. This is an image that, using the combined capabilities of NASA's Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes, shows what is being described as the …
Exoplanet Earth
Some two billion years ago, all of Earth may well have been covered in snow and ice. Oceans, continents, everything, and for many millions of years. Observed from afar, the planet would be pretty low on the list of planets that might conceivably support life. But we know that it did. Five hundred to seven …
Exoplanet Earth
Some two billion years ago, all of Earth may well have been covered in snow and ice. Oceans, continents, everything, and for many millions of years. Observed from afar, the planet would be pretty low on the list of planets that might conceivably support life. But we know that it did. Five hundred to seven …
Many Worlds 