After years of discovering exoplanets at a staggering pace, astronomers are now starting to distinguish the simply interesting from the truly promising. A new study highlights a select group of rocky ...

This artistic illustration shows the TRAPPIST-1 red dwarf star system, home to seven Earth-sized exoplanets, several of which lie within the star’s habitable zone. In the foreground is TRAPPIST-1 b, ...

The search for life beyond our planet is accelerating: a team of astronomers has isolated about forty worlds in our ...

Could a recently discovered "super-Earth" have the potential temperature and conditions to sustain life? The new exoplanet is situated "fairly close to us" -- only 137 light-years away -- and orbits ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Some exoplanets, like the one shown in this illustration, may have atmospheres that could make them potentially suitable for life.

The number 45 matters less than what it represents: the shift from open-ended discovery to structured search, and from chance ...

The definition of a habitable zone was necessarily simple in the beginning. Any planet at the right distance from its star to allow liquid surface water was considered to be in the habitable zone. But ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. An Earth-size exoplanet 40 light years away called TRAPPIST-1 e, at the lower right in this illustration, could have an atmosphere ...

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Morgan Underwood, Rice University (THE CONVERSATION) When astronomers search for ...