Map of rocky exoplanet reveals a lava world
30 March 2016The most detailed map of a small, rocky ‘super Earth’ to date reveals a planet almost completely covered by lava, with a molten ‘hot’ side and solid ‘cool’ side.
‘Sunscreen’ layer detected on distant planet
12 June 2015On a blazing-hot exoplanet known as WASP-33b, a team of astronomers including researchers from the University of Cambridge has detected a stratosphere, one of the primary layers of Earth’s atmosphere.
Discovery shows what the solar system looked like as a ‘toddler’
27 May 2015Astronomers have discovered a disc of planetary debris surrounding a young sun-like star that shares remarkable similarities with the Kuiper Belt that lies beyond Neptune, and may aid in understanding how our solar system developed.
Astronomers find first evidence of changing conditions on a super Earth
05 May 2015Astronomers have detected wildly changing temperatures on a super Earth – the first time any atmospheric variability has been observed on a rocky planet outside the solar system – and believe it could be due to huge amounts of volcanic activity, further adding to the mystery of what had been nicknamed the ‘diamond planet’.
Clear skies on exo-Neptune
24 September 2014Smallest exoplanet ever found to have water vapour
