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‘Mirage Earth’ exoplanets may have burned away chances for life
Illustration of a low-mass, M dwarf star, seen from an orbiting rocky planet.NASA / JPL Planets orbiting close to low-mass stars — easily the most common stars in the universe — are prime targets in...
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Some potentially habitable planets began as gaseous, Neptune-like worlds
Strong irradiation from the host star can cause planets known as mini-Neptunes in the habitable zone to shed their gaseous envelopes and become potentially habitable worlds.Rodrigo Luger / NASA images...
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Life or illusion? Avoiding ‘false positives’ in the search for living worlds
New research from the University of Washington-based Virtual Planetary Laboratory will help astronomers better identify and rule out “false positives” in the ongoing search for life. Shown is a NASA...
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Kepler telescope spies details of TRAPPIST-1 system’s outermost planet
The ultra-cool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1 and its seven planets. A UW-led team has learned details of TRAPPIST-1h, the system’s outermost planet.NASA A University of Washington-led international team of...
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Circumbinary castaways: Short-period binary systems can eject orbiting worlds
This artist’s concept illustrates Kepler-16b, the first planet known to orbit two stars – what’s called a circumbinary planet. The planet, which can be seen in the foreground, was discovered by NASA’s...
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