Science news articles about 'habitable planets'

There are about ten thousand billion billion habitable planets in the observable universe, and some of these Earth-like worlds could be found soon.

The search for habitable planets continues with the March 6 launch of the Kepler spacecraft, the latest in NASA's series of low cost, highly focused Discovery missions. Kepler, built by Ball Aerospace ...

... the National Science Foundation and the NASA Discovery Program. Cowan notes that some non-habitable planets, such as Neptune, also can appear to be blue, but the color is constant and, in the case ...

... life, they are focusing their attention on each system's habitable zone, where heat radiated from the star ... stars close to our solar system. Potentially habitable planets must orbit close to those stars ...

... the diversity of planetary systems and assessing current models of how planets migrate. The findings could help astrobiologists in the search for habitable planets beyond our solar system.

... burn hydrogen. Until recently, M stars have been considered poor candidates for harboring habitable planets. This was, in part, because it was thought the violent flares generated by intense magnetic ...

... telescopes may be able to detect. The research points to a new avenue in the search for habitable planets. "It may be a while before we can directly image earthlike planets around other stars but, ...

GREENBELT, Md., Oct. 13 (UPI) -- U.S. space agency scientists say they've identified another way by which astronomers can identify exoplanets in their search for habitable planets.

... disks around sunlike stars show that planets nearly as small as Mars can create patterns ... future telescopes may be able to detect. The research points to a new avenue in the search for habitable planets ...

... sugar molecule that is directly linked to the origin of life, in a region of our galaxy where habitable planets could exist. The discovery, part funded by the UK's Science and Technology Facilities ...

... ice or even on the surface," Gaudi said. "And we will almost certainly be able to detect these habitable planets if they exist." The most promising technique for finding super-Earths is the one Gaudi ...

Not astrobiologists' first choice, red dwarf stars have now gained acceptance as potential hosts for habitable planets

Lunar eclipse paints portrait of Earth that could aid hunt for distant habitable planets.

Habitable planets require just the right amount of volcanism