Still, science being science, we needed proof—and we got it in 1992, when two astronomers found two planets orbiting a pulsar ...

For decades, the search for alien life has revolved around a narrow ring around stars where liquid water could exist on a planet’s surface. That “habitable zone” remains important, but astronomers are ...

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 ...

Researchers have come up with a color-coded key that could prove crucial in detecting signs of life on exoplanet clouds.

The first sign of possible extraterrestrials detected in the cosmos didn't come in the form of little green aliens flying around in saucer-shaped spacecraft. In fact, the life that could be – emphasis ...

A nearby binary star system is bereft of giant planets, but scientists think it may still be a decent place to look for life.

This April, news reports linked the stinky gas dimethyl sulfide (DMS) in the atmosphere of a distant exoplanet called K2-18b to possible life on it. The reports, prompted by work led by astronomer ...

The first Earth-size planet orbiting a star in the “habitable zone” — the range of distance from a star where liquid water might pool on the surface of an orbiting planet. What if humanity's search ...

Our search for exoplanets is focused on Milky Way stars. It's been successful, with more than 6,000 detected so far.

Astronomers at the University of Cambridge in England announced on April 17 that they had found the strongest evidence yet that life may exist somewhere besides Earth. Using data from NASA's James ...