Meteorites,Comets and Asteroids

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

Astronomers previously predicted the presence of the planet Kepler-88 c based on its gravitational influence on other planets in the system, even though they couldn't see it. Now, new observations confirm that the planet does exist.

Scientists have found organics from Earth's swamp trapped inside glass that had been created by a meteor impact almost a million years ago.

Managers of NASA's Dawn spacecraft have developed a preliminary schedule for mission operations when the spacecraft reaches the dwarf planet Ceres in early 2015.

Astronomers have discovered a giant planet whose existence can't be explained by current models of planet or star formation.