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Exoplanetology

An artist's rendering of a habitable moon orbiting a gas giant planet.

Life beyond Earth? The best bet may be on moons, not planets

Science

The search is on for planets that could harbor life, but many of the candidates that we can see are more like gassy Jupiter than rocky Earth. But those planets may be home to rocky moons that can sustain life themselves

An artist's rendering if Kepler 186f, a world extremely similar to Kepler 438b, an Earth-like exoplanet orbiting an M-class dwarf star in the habitable zone.

Up close, ‘Earth-like’ planets are still wildly unfamiliar worlds

Science

NASA’s Kepler Spacecraft Will Never Search for Planets Again

MIT professor explores planets for signs of life

Environment

VIDEO: New planet, possibly habitable, discovered by NASA scientists

Environment

A Blue Planet with Molten Glass Rain and Supersonic Winds

Environment

Friday’s Geo Quiz brings us far from home: 63 light years away. There’s a giant, hot, blue planet there with some extreme weather that scientists were able to visually observe this week.

Neil deGrasse Tyson on New Earth-Like Planet and Black Holes

NASA’s Kepler mission has confirmed the discovery of a  planet in the habitable zone of a sun-like star. A NASA researcher says the Earth-like planet would have a surface temperature around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. This makes it a so-called “Goldilocks planet” –  not too hot, not too cold, just right to support life. Researchers have also measured […]

The World

Are we really alone in the universe?

Environment

Using the Kepler space observatory, which he helped to design with a team of scientists, Dimitar Sasselov has found over 700 planets that meet earth-like criteria and could even sustain human life. He explains his findings.

The World

Kepler is on the hunt for planets like Earth

Environment

On Friday, NASA is set to launch a giant telescope called Kepler into outer space. Kepler will orbit the sun and sweep it’s camcorder-like lens across the Milky Way, looking for planets like Earth, that can sustain life.

The World

Geo answer

Environment

For our Geo Quiz we wanted to know the birthplace of the astronomer Johannes Kepler. He was born in Weil der Stadt in southern Germany in 1571. NASA is launching a space mission named after Kepler tonight. The World’s David Leveille reports.