Aliens have long been a staple of science fiction. Yet the possibility of intelligent life beyond Earth is more than a matter of imagination—it is also a subject of serious scientific inquiry.

If life exists elsewhere, it might not be on worlds like Earth. Here are some of the more peculiar places scientists are ...

This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more. This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more. Illustration of the Earth-like exoplanet Proxima Centauri b orbiting the star Proxima ...

A breakthrough in telescope imaging could reveal countless alien worlds that have been hiding in plain sight. Scientists developed a new technique that uses a digital twin of the James Webb Space ...

This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more. This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more. The Milky Way galaxy has more than 400 billion stars in it. Over the last few decades, ...

Planets orbiting stars beyond the solar system come in all shapes and sizes but mostly fit into a few categories: large and hot gas giants, super-Earths that are slightly larger than our planet, ...

This summer, exoplanet science—the study of planets orbiting stars beyond our sun—took a big step forward. Reports of helium gas escaping from the atmosphere of LHS 1140b propelled this exoplanet from ...

A new study from researchers in Japan suggests that a better way to search for alien life might be to look for suspiciously similar planets that are close to each other. The idea is that if life has ...

Astronomers have narrowed down the cosmic search for life, identifying fewer than 50 rocky planets among thousands of known exoplanets that may have the right conditions to support life. Using new ...

Astronomers have identified a clue hidden in the light of certain stars that's already led them to discover seven new alien planets, with more expected to come. To be clear, these alien planets likely ...