For the first time, scientists have directly detected molecules in a Frisbee of gas and dust swirling around an alien gas-giant planet. “I didn’t think this was possible,” says astronomer Sierra Grant ...

Alpha Centauri, part of the three-star system closet to our own, is often posed in science fiction as humanity's first hop into the beyond-or perhaps its first meeting of the minds with alien ...

Astronomers have discovered strong evidence for a giant gas planet in a nearby solar system – with moons that could be habitable. The planet was first detected by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) ...

This artist's concept shows what the gas giant planet that orbits the star Alpha Centauri A could look like. (R. Hurt (Caltech/IPAC) | NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI) Just 4.3 light years from Earth lies a ...

Detecting exoplanets is one thing, but imaging them is another thing entirely. Astronomers can detect them by the way they block their star's light and by the way they make their stars wobble, and ...

Just 4.3 light years from Earth lies a star called Alpha Centauri A, which is famous for being the nearest star that resembles our own Sun. In the popular Avatar movies, this star's system is home to ...