Get the latest from the planet-hunting frontier. Find out what we are learning about our place in the cosmos from the search for earth-like planets.

This journey started tens of thousands of years ago, when humans began to fan out across the planet, following unknown pathways, crossing unmeasured distances. We traced coastlines, and sailed uncertain seas. We crossed ocean straits drained by an ice age.

Into every corner of Earth we ventured, looking for places to put down our roots, to raise our families, or just to see what was there. Today, it’s the final frontier that fires our imaginations. With so many stars in our galaxy, we make a simple extrapolation, that the cosmos must be filled with worlds like ours, with life, even intelligent life.

For four years, the historic planet hunting mission, Kepler, starred at a group of 150,000 stars located in a region extending three thousand light years away from earth.

The data collected by this spacecraft has brought a turning point in the long search for other planets like earth. Is ours one of countless life-bearing worlds strewn about the galaxy; or is it a rare garden of eden in a barren universe?

Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have captured infrared-light images of a churning region of star birth 6,400 light-years away. New from Hubblecast.

The collection of images reveals a shadowy, dense knot of gas and dust sharply contrasted against a backdrop of brilliant glowing gas in the Monkey Head Nebula (also known as NGC 2174).

The image demonstrates Hubble’s powerful infrared vision and offers a tantalizing hint of what scientists can expect from the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope. Observations of NGC 2174 were taken in February, 2014.

Massive newborn stars near the center of the nebula (and toward the right in this image) are blasting away at dust within the nebula. The ultraviolet light emitted by these bright stars helps shape the dust into giant pillars.

This carving action occurs because the nebula is mostly composed of hydrogen gas, which becomes ionized by the ultraviolet radiation. As the dust particles are warmed by the ultraviolet light of the stars, they heat up and begin to glow at infrared wavelengths.

Coming soon… this 30-minute episode of Cosmic Journeys is an updated and expanded version of the old episode. Is Earth one of countless life-bearing worlds strewn about the galaxy? Or is it a rare garden of eden in a barren universe?

Striking new observations from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of a spiral galaxy moving through the heart of a galaxy cluster named Abell 3627. Hot x-ray winds from this cluster are violently ripping the spiral’s entrails out into space, like a stiff headwind, leaving bright blue streaks. From Hubblecast.

The abundance of water on Earth has shaped nearly every aspect of our lives, even if we are not directly aware of it. Using data sets from a variety of sources, including NOAA and NASA, water is shown to be the primary driver of Earth’s dynamic systems. It is the source of all life on the planet, which is astounding, considering just how rare and precious Earth’s fresh water resources are.

In its fourth year in orbit, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory has brought us front row center to a show filled with radiant bursts and dark mysteries.

SDO captures images of the sun in 10 different wavelengths, highlighting a range of surface temperatures. These show specific structures…. such as solar flares — giant explosions of light and x-rays — and coronal loops — streams of solar material that travel up and down looping magnetic field lines. These field lines can launch prominence eruptions, when masses of solar material blast off the surface of the sun, often falling back in vast torrents of fire.

Eruptions like these are often associated with dark cool regions called sunspots… below which tangled magnetic fields cause the energy to build to extremes.

One of the largest sunspot clusters in recent years appeared in January 2014. It was a prelude to a powerful X-class flare.

The sun is a complex electromagnetic system, powered by energy generated deep in its core. Scientists study these images because solar eruptions can pose a danger to spacecraft and power systems on Earth, and because they reveal the inner moods of countless stars that live, evolve, and finally die, all across the stage of Continue reading Tracking Solar Torrents →

From ESOCast: on clear nights we can look up at the stars and marvel at the vastness of the universe. Our eyes quickly adapt to the dark. As our pupils widen, more light streams onto our retinas and fainter stars become more visible. But the light-collecting area of the human eye is tiny. To peer much deeper into the night sky astronomers need telescopes with enormous primary mirrors. How large does modern technology allow us to build telescopes? How far into space can they see?

What was supposed to be a 90 day mission has lasted an astounding 10 years. See the incredible rover, Opportunity, and the brilliant scientists keeping her alive and well, with a steady stream of useful scientific data coming in on a daily basis.

Follow Dr. Ben Longmier and his team into the rugged Alaskan wilderness on a quest to build a whole new type of rocket engine. Their goal is to test sensitive components by launching them into radiation-filled environments of space aboard helium balloons. Their goal is to revolutionize space travel and exploration by harnessing the energy contained in the dynamic fourth state of matter: plasma.

This action-packed episode explores a big dream at the moment of its birth… taking us along to witness dramatic balloon launches on mountain glaciers, spectacular imagery inside the Sun, and flights through colorful geomagnetic storms.

This exciting show is about individuals who are challenging the odds and striking out to new frontiers. As part of a larger trend of private enterprise in space, their audacious plan is to seize the historic initiative by opening up whole new avenues of space exploration.

News from ESO. Planet hunters have discovered three planets orbiting stars in the cluster Messier 67. Although more than one thousand planets outside the Solar System are now confirmed, only a handful have been found in star clusters. Remarkably one of these new exoplanets is orbiting a star that is a rare solar twin — a star that is almost identical to the Sun in all respects.

Planets orbiting stars outside the Solar System are now known to be very common. These exoplanets have been found orbiting stars of widely varied ages and chemical compositions and are scattered across the sky. But, up to now, very few planets have been found inside star clusters. This is particularly odd as it is known that most stars are born in such clusters. Astronomers have wondered if there might be something different about planet formation in star clusters to explain this strange lack.

This cluster lies about 2500 light-years away in the constellation of Cancer (The Crab) and contains about 500 stars. Many of the cluster stars are fainter than those normally targeted for exoplanet searches. Of three new planets, two are orbiting stars similar to the Sun and one is orbiting a more massive Continue reading Unlikely Planetary Treasure Trove →