Meteorites,Comets and Asteroids

The Kepler mission has measured masses for roughly 60 exoplanets that are larger than Earth, but smaller than Neptune. Data shows that many of these planets are likely covered in gas.

Astrophysicists have discovered a strange celestial object that could challenge theories of how stars and planets form. They are not sure if the object itself is a planet... or a star.

Astronomers have found the first Earth-mass planet transiting its star. Both the mass and size of the planet have been measured, and the numbers indicate that it has a thick, gaseous atmosphere.

Witnesses described a fireball as bright as the Sun that fragmented into many parts on Thursday evening December 26th.

Ground-based observations that followed up on data from Kepler confirm the existence of five new rocky planets. The study also provides new insight into many other planets spotted by Kepler that are between the sizes of Earth and Neptune.

Astronomers have long known that some comets like it hot. Several of the greatest comets in history have flown close to the sun, puffing themselves up with solar heat, before they became naked-eye wonders in the night sky.

Astronomers have used the Hubble Space Telescope to study cloudy weather on an extrasolar planet. The team are the first to definitively characterized the atmosphere of a planet orbiting a distant star.

As 2013 draws to a close, Astrobiology Magazine highlights the year's top stories. At number 3 is the object that entered Earth's atmosphere and disintegrated over Siberia on February 15th.

As 2013 draws to a close, Astrobiology Magazine highlights the year's top stories. At number 6 is the expansion of the Extrasolar Planets Catalog to now over 1,000 planets. The milestone was reached October 22, and their current count of planets discovered beyond our solar

As 2013 draws to a close, Astrobiology Magazine highlights the year's top stories. At number 8 is NASA's Dawn mission upcoming investigation of the icy dwarf planet Ceres. The closest frozen body to Earth, Ceres may be as promising when it comes to hosting life