May 2018
PLATO the habitable zone explorer
... orbital periods similar to Earth’s. This means that the habitable zone (the range of orbital periods where liquid water could exist) for stars like the Sun remains relatively unexplored. An artist’s impression of the PLATO satellite...
August 2020
Interstellar aspirations
... Alpha Centauri system. The planet orbits in the habitable zone of that star, meaning that it could have liquid water on its surface and could support life as we know it. The possibility of observing such a world from close quarters...
13 October 2015
NASA and Israel Space Agency sign cooperation agreement
...partnership,” Bolden said. In recent months, NASA has made a series of groundbreaking announcements, including the existence of liquid water on Mars, the discovery of exoplanet 452B, which is very similar to Earth, and the successful arrival at Pluto...
02 March 2016
Using MUSCLES to test for life on other planets
... zones around nearby stars. The habitable zone (HZ) or ‘Goldilocks Zone’ is seen as the location around a star where liquid water may exist on a planet’s surface. Approximately one-in- six main sequence stars (with spectral types F, G and K) detected...
27 October 2017
Astronomers find system with six planets
...-sized moons orbiting HD 34445b [orbits in 1054 days] and HD 34445f [orbits in 677 days] could potentially have liquid water on their surfaces.” Given the wide-range of orbits of the 6 planets (that last anywhere from tens to thousands...
15 November 2017
Earth-mass temperate exoplanet found close by
... project are uncertain as to whether the planet lies inside, outside, or on the edge of the habitable zone where liquid water may exist on a planet’s surface. “This discovery is based on more than a decade of HARPS intensive monitoring together with...
