New observations also answer a long-standing question about where this ultrahot planet keeps its titanium.
exoplanets
A Super Speedy Star May Be Streaking Through Our Galaxy
Astronomers suggest the star is towing along an exoplanet. The system could be traveling fast enough to escape the Milky Way.
Dusty Belts Provide Clearer Insights into Exoplanet Formation
Millimeter-wavelength observations of dust and pebbles in 74 star systems hint that planetary migrations might be more common than we realized.
Scientists Finally Get a Good Look at a Disintegrating Exoplanet
The James Webb Space Telescope offers astronomers a rare glimpse into the chemical composition of a rocky planet’s interior—and the results are “very surprising.”
Telescopes Catch the Aftermath of an Energetic Planetary Collision
A planetary collision 1,800 light-years away birthed a body that has cooled in unexpected ways.
Earth May Survive the Sun’s Demise
A distant white dwarf hosts an Earth-like planet in an orbit that might be similar to Earth’s if it survives the Sun’s red giant phase.
Small Stars Produce Mighty UV Flares
Stronger-than-expected ultraviolet flares could either provide exoplanets the sparks of life or prevent them from having life at all.
Anemic Stars Don’t Host Super-Earths
Planetary systems need the right stuff to make planets, and some stars just don’t have it.
Smells Like an Exoplanet
Hydrogen sulfide, spotted in the atmosphere of the exoplanet HD 189733 b, helps constrain how the planet formed.
Magnetic Barriers Might Explain Mysterious Hot Jupiters
Hot Jupiters might end up very close to stars because a magnetic field halts their progress—and future observations could confirm the idea.