hot jupiter

Jovian planets -- the giants of solar systems

They're big

Gas giants orbiting young star may require astronomers to rethink planetary formation

A bizarre stellar 'toddler' is leaving scientists scratching their heads.

Huge exoplanet ten times more massive than Jupiter has unique carbon monoxide atmosphere

There's no water in its stratosphere -- a first that might change what scientists think Hot Jupiters form.

Odd Jupiter-sized exoplanet is hot enough to melt metal but paradoxically pitch-black

It's the 'blackest' planet we've found.

Scientists find water clouds and exotic, primitive atmosphere on a "warm Neptune"

We didn't even know this kind of planet can exist.

Water detected in a planet outside our solar system

Astronomers have recently discovered water in the atmosphere of a planet outside our solar system, using a novel technique – they believe that this new method could reveal more and more planets which feature water; so far, all life as we know it, is based on water. They made their discovery on a Jupiter-like planet […]

Signs of water found in the atmosphere of 5 alien planets

Using the Hubble telescope, astronomers have identified faint signals of water in the atmosphere of five exoplanets. The alien planets, however, are classed as hot-Jupiters – huge planets with a surface temperature too hot to support life. Finding water on planets light years away from Earth is definitely of great note and marks a step […]

First cloud map of an extrasolar planet

Astronomers have created the first cloud map of a planet outside our solar system, a sizzling, Jupiter-like world known as Kepler-7b. NASA’s Kepler and Spitzer space telescopes found patchy clouds on this hot Jupiter which was discovered in January 2010. Hot Jupiters are some of the most common planets from what we know so far; […]

For the first time, researchers discover true color of distant planet

The world, known as HD189733b, has a deep azure hue, probably the result of molten silicate glass rain in the atmosphere, which scatters blue light. The giant planet is one of the closest and most studied in the exoplanets recently discovered; it is a sauna, a hazy hothouse swept by blow-torch winds powered by the […]

Stars don't consume their planets - usually

Stars have a pull on all planets, but they exhibit a special kind of attraction towards a class of planets called ‘Hot Jupiters‘. Hot Jupiters, also called roaster planets or pegadisds are a class of extrasolar planets very similar to Jupiter, but which have very high temperatures because they orbit very close to the Sun. […]

First evidence of planet formation around sun-like stars in clusters

Astronomers, financially backed by NASA, have for the first time ever discovered tantilizing evidence that planets can form and exist around sun-like stars, densly packed together in star clusters. The finding is of significant importance, as scientists claim that it shows that planet can indeed exist in extremely harsh environments, like star clusters. The two […]

Extrasolar hot Jupiter sheds some light on our own solar system

Since 1995, over 500 planets that don’t orbit our Sun have been discovered, with the numbers increasing more and more in the past years. But only recently did astrophysicists observe that in some of these cases, the star seems to be spinning in one direction, and the planet orbits it in the totally opposite direction […]

Astronomers upset the theory of planetary formation

The discovery of 9 new planets raises some serious questions on the matter of how planets are formed. Two astronomers from the University of California, Santa Barbara reported the discovery, and of them, two are spinning in the opposite direction the planets in our solar system are spinning. This, along with other recent studies of […]