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.

Astonishingly, we can identify molecules present in the atmospheres of exoplanets.

When astronomers search for planets that could host liquid water on their surface, they start by looking at a star's habitable zone. Water is a key ingredient for life, and on a planet too close to ...

Resonating oscillations of a planet's atmosphere caused by gravitational tides and heating from its star could prevent a planet's rotation from steadily slowing over time, according to new research by ...

The challenge in the search for habitable worlds is clear. We need to be able to identify habitable worlds and distinguish between biotic and abiotic processes. Ideally, scientists would do this on ...

Astronomers have captured the most dramatic view yet of a planet losing its atmosphere, watching the ultra-hot gas giant WASP ...

The atmospheres of giant planets represent complex, dynamic systems where underlying physical processes such as radiation, convection and chemical interactions lead to striking patterns including ...

It is well known that phosphorus is essential to life’s existence. For this reason, there has been a continued interest in ...

(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 ...