Astronomers Discover the Smallest Exo-Planet to Date
	As expected, the Gliese 581 system did not disappoint and is now revealing the smallest planet outside our solar system, bringing the total number of planets found orbiting around the red dwarf star to three. When the star was first targeted by astronomers nearly two years ago, only a single planet was detected. The newly found object weighs about 5 times more than Earth, has a rocky surface, and its orbit could allow the existence of liqu ... [read more >>]
	21 July 2008, 08:31GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Earth-like Exo-planet Search Picks Up Speed
	It may seem strange to some of us but, in fact, it is easier to identify a planet as having the characteristics of our own than actually finding a planet with a size comparable to Earth. For example, there are currently about 270 known exo-planets, of which only a handful have rocky surfaces. By studying light scattered through their atmosphere, or reflected off the surface, researchers can tell whether the planet is habitable, has liquid ... [read more >>]
	26 April 2008, 04:25GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Link Between Stars and Planets Found
	Brown dwarfs, or failed stars, are stellar bodies with masses 10 to 70 times higher than Jupiter’s. Although, like all stars, they have the capability of initiating thermonuclear fusion reactions in their cores, their masses do not permit them to sustain these reactions for a very long time, unlike typical stars, such as our Sun, which are able to burn hydrogen through nuclear fusion reactions for several billion years. Canadian and Fr ... [read more >>]
	11 April 2008, 02:53GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Newly Found Exo-Planet is the Smallest Ever
	The new exo-planet, dubbed GJ 436c, moves in an orbit around the star GJ 436, located in the Leo constellation, 30 light years away from Earth. Relying on the mass of the planet, scientists believe that it could be a rocky planet, about five times heavier than our own. The discovery was made by researchers from the University College London in collaboration with the Spanish Research Council. GJ 436c completes an orbit around ... [read more >>]
	10 April 2008, 03:25GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Twins of Saturn and Jupiter Found in Distant Star System
	During the span of the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting that took place last week in Belfast, astronomers revealed the latest results of their studies. One of the scientists present there, Martin Dominik from the St Andrews University, pointed out that he and his team discovered a distant star system bearing two planets relatively similar to our two largest gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn, orbiting around the cen ... [read more >>]
	07 April 2008, 02:55GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Ten New Exo-Planets Found
	The Wide Area Search for Planets international collaboration announced that it had found 10 new extra solar planets, by using of robotic camera systems, which survey solar systems other than our own, in the hope of understanding how planets are formed around stars. Astronomers are expected to detail their findings today at the Royal Astronomical Society's national Astronomy meeting. The robotic cameras use a detection technique re ... [read more >>]
	02 April 2008, 04:22GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Hottest Exo-Planet Ever Found
	Orbiting its parent star from a distance of only 5.6 million kilometers, the HAT-P-7b is only the latest exo-planet discovered in our galaxy and, at the same time, the hottest planet ever found. HAT-P-7b was detected by an array of small telescopes owned by the HATNet project and is located about a thousand light years away from Earth. If Earth were to lie so close to Sun, the daily energy received from our star would increase a ... [read more >>]
	24 March 2008, 07:36GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Google Asked to Join Exo-Planet Search Effort
	After the success achieved in the last years in the collaboration with NASA's Ames Research Center, which included the mapping of stars and that of the surfaces of different bodies in the solar system, the Internet search giant Google is now showing interest in expanding its development towards providing other useful information such as maps of exo-planets. The Transiting Exoplanet Survery Satellite with its wide-field digital cameras ... [read more >>]
	22 March 2008, 06:45GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Methane Found on Distant Exo-Planet
	Another exo-planet found and yet another intriguing discovery! Astronomers reveal that an exo-planet detected back in 2005, located in a solar system in the Vulpecula constellation, 63 light-years away from Earth, has a methane-rich atmosphere. The planet dubbed HD 189733b is a gas giant relatively similar to Jupiter, orbiting its star from a close distance. Just last year, with the help of the Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers[ADMA ... [read more >>]
	20 March 2008, 03:44GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia