Topic description and stories

Artist's concept depicting one possible appearance of the planet Kepler-452b

Scientists identify exoplanets where life could develop as it did on Earth

01 Aug 2018

Scientists have identified a group of planets outside our solar system where the same chemical conditions that may have led to life on Earth exist...

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Artist's impression of a collision between the Milky Way and a massive dwarf

The Gaia Sausage: the major collision that changed the Milky Way

04 Jul 2018

An international team of astronomers has discovered an ancient and dramatic head-on collision between the Milky Way and a smaller object, dubbed ‘the...

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Multiple metals – and possible signs of water – found in unique exoplanet

31 May 2018

An international team of researchers have identified ‘fingerprints’ of multiple metals in one of the least dense exoplanets ever found.

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Gaia creates richest star map of our Galaxy – and beyond

25 Apr 2018

The European Space Agency’s Gaia mission has produced the richest star catalogue to date, including high-precision measurements of nearly 1.7 billion...

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Artistic impression of a habitable planet near a pulsar (right)

Habitable planets could exist around pulsars

19 Dec 2017

It is theoretically possible that habitable planets exist around pulsars - spinning neutron stars that emit short, quick pulses of radiation...

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Smallest-ever star discovered by astronomers

12 Jul 2017

A star about the size of Saturn – the smallest ever measured – has been identified by astronomers.

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Artist’s impression of a runaway star

Fastest stars in the Milky Way are ‘runaways’ from another galaxy

05 Jul 2017

A group of astronomers have shown that the fastest-moving stars in our galaxy – which are travelling so fast that they can escape the Milky Way – are...

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Icy ring around young planetary system has similar chemical fingerprint to our solar system

18 May 2017

An international team of astronomers, including researchers from the University of Cambridge, has made the most detailed image of the ring of dusty...

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Gaia’s first sky map

Gaia results revealed – first data release from the most detailed map ever made of the sky

14 Sep 2016

The first results from the Gaia satellite, which is completing an unprecedented census of more than one billion stars in the Milky Way, are being...

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Artist's impression of dark matter clumps around a Milky Way-like galaxy

Massive holes ‘punched’ through a trail of stars likely caused by dark matter

07 Sep 2016

The discovery of two massive holes punched through a stream of stars could help answer questions about the nature of dark matter, the mysterious...

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Artist’s impression of the ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1 from the surface of one of its planets

New exoplanet think tank will ask the big questions about extra-terrestrial worlds

05 Sep 2016

An international exoplanet ‘think tank’ is meeting this week in Cambridge to deliberate on the ten most important questions that humanity could...

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Artist’s impression of the disc and outflow around the massive young star

Astronomers identify a young heavyweight star in the Milky Way

22 Aug 2016

A young star over 30 times more massive than the Sun could help us understand how the most extreme stars in the Universe are born.

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