A rocky world orbiting within its star’s habitable zone may be surrounded by a helium-rich atmosphere, providing the strongest evidence yet that planets with Earth-like conditions could support life outside the solar system.

The planet LHS 1140 b lies in its star’s habitable zone, which already made it a prime candidate as a possible host for life

Seen from afar, Earth is looking steadily darker. The amount of sunshine reflected is known as the albedo. This is going down. Everything not reflected is absorbed, so the energy absorbed is going up.

Astronomers find planet that is shockingly like Earth in huge milestone for search for aliens - First ever discovery of its kind is an ‘absolute thrill’, researchers say

A team of astronomers has discovered a third planet orbiting the star Beta Pictoris. The new planet, Beta Pictoris d, is 100 times fainter than Beta Pictoris b—the first planet discovered in the same system—and is among the lightest exoplanets ever imaged from the ground.