<h2>Hot Pursuit</h2>
For the first time, astronomers have used a technique known as <a href="https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1905/#1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">optical interferometry</a> to study an exoplanet.
That planet, HR 8799e, is a &#8220;super-Jupiter&#8221; with a surface temperature of a hellish 880 degrees Celsius (1,616 degrees Fahrenheit), meaning it&#8217;s highly unlikely to support life — but the unprecedented quality of the astronomers&#8217; observations suggest that optical interferometry could prove invaluable in the hunt for aliens elsewhere.
<h2>Team Effort</h2>
Optical interferometry involves using multiple telescopes simultaneously to study an object, rather than relying on a single one.
For their <a href="https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2019/03/aa35253-19/aa35253-19.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> of HR 8799e, which was published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics on Wednesday, an international team of astronomers used <a href="https://www.eso.org/sci/facilities/paranal/instruments/gravity.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GRAVITY</a>, an interferometric instrument that exploits the four 8-meter-wide telescopes of the European Southern Observatory&#8217;s (ESO) <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/black-hole-milky-way" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Very Large Telescope (VLT)</a>, to study the exoplanet in unprecedented detail.
Through these observations, the team was able to calculate the distance between it and its star, HR 8799, 10 times more accurately than they could using previous techniques, as well as glean new insights into its orbit.
<h2>Powerful Tool</h2>
The astronomers were also able to measure HR 8799e&#8217;s <a href="https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/technology/spectroscopy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spectrum</a> — its molecular makeup — with unprecedented accuracy, which yielded an unexpected discovery.
&#8220;Going by the planets of our own solar system, we would expect large amounts of methane in the atmosphere of a gas planet this hot,&#8221; researcher Silvia Scheithauer said in a <a href="https://www.mpg.de/2019-02-GravityExoplanet-en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a>. &#8220;But surprisingly, the atmosphere of HR 8799e hardly contains any methane it all. Instead, we found major amounts of carbon monoxide!&#8221;
According to the ESO, our best bet for finding alien life lies in our ability to <a href="https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/technology/spectroscopy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">measure exoplanets&#8217; spectrums</a>, and thanks to this study of HR 8799e, we now know that we have a highly accurate new technique to help us find atmospheres likely to support extraterrestrial lifeforms.
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.mpg.de/2019-02-GravityExoplanet-en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Exoplanet under the looking glass</a> [Max Planck Institute for Astronomy]
More on the VLT: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/black-hole-milky-way" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New Image Confirms a Black Hole Is Swallowing Our Galaxy</a>

It lets scientists study exoplanets' atmospheres with unprecedented accuracy.

New method could help astronomers find life-supporting exoplanets

Tracking ET

For the first time, astronomers have used a technique known as optical interferometry to study an exoplanet — and it could help in our hunt for aliens.

New Method Could Help Astronomers Find Life-Supporting Exoplanets

They used four telescopes at once to study a far-off "super-Jupiter."

<h2>Icy Home</h2>
The exoplanet Barnard&#8217;s Star b might be frigid, but that doesn&#8217;t mean it couldn&#8217;t support life.
At least, that&#8217;s the claim of a team of astrophysicists from Villanova University. They say that while the surface temperature of Barnard&#8217;s Star b — the second-closest known exoplanet to Earth — is likely  around -170 degrees Celsius (-274 degrees Fahrenheit), it could still <a href="https://www1.villanova.edu/villanova/media/pressreleases/2019/0110.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">host primitive life</a> — as long at it has the right kind of core.
<h2>Life Zones</h2>
The scientists presented their <a href="http://clusty.ast.villanova.edu/gallery/Barnard_Poster_AAS2019.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">research</a> during a press conference on Thursday at a meeting of the American Astronomy Society (AAS). They claim that a large, hot iron core could allow the planet to host life despite its frigid surface temperature.
&#8220;Geothermal heating could support &#8216;life zones&#8217; under its surface, akin to subsurface lakes found in Antarctica,&#8221; researcher Edward Guinan said in a <a href="https://www1.villanova.edu/villanova/media/pressreleases/2019/0110.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a>. &#8220;We note that the surface temperature on Jupiter’s icy moon Europa is similar to Barnard b but, because of tidal heating, Europa probably has liquid oceans under its icy surface.&#8221;
<h2>Looking Up</h2>
The researchers are hopeful that future telescopes, such as the James Webb Space Telescope, will provided astrophysicists with a better look at Barnard&#8217;s Star b.
&#8220;Such observations will shed light on the nature of the planet’s atmosphere, surface, and potential habitability,&#8221; Guinan said.
Right now, the launch of the Webb is <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/nasas-webb-telescope-wrapped-in-a-mobile-clean-room" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scheduled for 2021</a>, so we might not have to wait too long to find out whether the exoplanet in our <a href="https://futurism.com/scientists-just-discovered-the-second-closest-exoplanet-to-earth" target="_blank" rel="noopener">galactic backyard</a> is home to life.
READ MORE: <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2019/01/10/life-might-exist-on-the-new-planet-discovered-around-barnards-star/#.XDkHXM9KiV4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Conditions for Life Might Exist on the New Planet Discovered Around Barnard’s Star</a> [Discover]
More on Barnard’s Star: <a href="https://futurism.com/scientists-just-discovered-the-second-closest-exoplanet-to-earth" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Scientists Just Discovered the Second-Closest Exoplanet to Earth</a>

It may be frigid, but that doesn't mean it's uninhabitable.

One of the closest exoplanets to Earth could support alien life

Cold Case 

Barnard's Star b, a nearby exoplanet, could have 'life zones' under its frigid surface, according to a team of astrophysicists.

One of the Closest Exoplanets to Earth Could Support Alien Life

Life could be hiding in our galactic backyard.

<h2>Melted Away</h2>
A newly discovered gas planet, orbiting a distant star, is approximately the size of Neptune — but it&#8217;s so close to the red dwarf it orbits that it&#8217;s literally boiling away.
&#8220;This is the smoking gun that planets can lose a significant fraction of their entire mass,&#8221; Johns Hopkins planetary scientist David Sing, who helped find the exoplanet, said in a <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/where-are-all-the-hot-neptunes-they-may-have-dwindled-down-into-mini-neptunes">news release</a>. He added that it&#8217;s &#8220;losing more of its mass than any other planet we seen so far; in only a few billion years from now, half of the planet may be gone.&#8221;
<h2>Nature Is Metal</h2>
The planet, which is called GJ 3470b and described in a <a href="https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2018/12/aa33675-18/aa33675-18.html">new paper</a> in the journal Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics, is what&#8217;s known as a &#8220;hot Neptune.&#8221; That means that it&#8217;s a gas giant, like our own solar system&#8217;s Neptune or Jupiter, but it&#8217;s far closer to its host star than either of those planets.
GJ 3470b is so close to its star, in fact, that it&#8217;s boiling away into space. To make matters worse, it&#8217;s not a very heavy planet, meaning that its gravitational pull on its own atmosphere is comparatively weak.
<h2>Mysteries of the Cosmos</h2>
The rapidly vanishing GJ 3470b could provide an important clue about the nature of gas planets outside our solar system. Though the Kepler mission has <a href="https://www.space.com/24166-mini-neptune-alien-planets-kepler-aas223.html">found many smaller &#8220;mini-Neptunes&#8221;</a> sprinkled throughout the galaxy, hot Neptunes are rare. The new theory: we&#8217;re not finding as many hot Neptunes because, like GJ 3470b, they tend to boil away into mini-Neptunes.
&#8220;It&#8217;s one of the most extreme examples of a planet undergoing a major mass-loss over its lifetime,&#8221; University of Geneva astronomer Vincent Bourrier, another researcher on the hot Neptune project, said in the same news release. &#8220;This sizable mass loss has major consequences for its evolution, and it impacts our understanding of the origin and fate of the population of exoplanets close to their stars.&#8221;
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/where-are-all-the-hot-neptunes-they-may-have-dwindled-down-into-mini-neptunes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Astronomers Have Detected a Planet That&#8217;s Actually Evaporating Away at Record Speed</a> [Science Alert]
More on hot Neptunes: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/treasure-trove-planets-hiding-dust" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Researchers Found a Treasure Trove of Planets Hiding in Dust</a>

"This is the smoking gun that planets can lose a significant fraction of their entire mass."

This Neptune-sized exoplanet is being melted away by its star

Hot Neptune

A newly discovered hot Neptune orbiting a distant star is boiling away, losing mass at a record-breaking speed, according to new research.

This Neptune-Sized Exoplanet Is Being Melted Away By Its Star

At its current rate, half the planet will disappear into space.

<h2>&#8220;Super-Earth&#8221; Confirmed</h2>
Few things capture the human imagination quite like a newly discovered planet — let alone one right in our cosmic backyard.
Well, backyard might be a stretch in astronomical terms, but that&#8217;s essentially what scientists from the European Southern Observatory announced today. New evidence points to an <a href="https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1837/?lang">exoplanet orbiting Barnard&#8217;s Star</a> just six light-years from Earth, according to a <a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0677-y">paper published</a> in the journal Nature. 
Six light-years might sound like quite the distance – it works out to 9.5 trillion km (5.88 trillion miles). But when it comes to exoplanets, six light-years is hard to beat. The nearest star system to our Sun, for comparison, is the three-star Alpha Centauri, which is about 4.2 light-years away from Earth.
Next closest is Barnard&#8217;s Star, an ancient star that&#8217;s likely about twice the age of our Sun. This dimly-lit red dwarf is the closest single star to our Sun, meaning it isn&#8217;t part of a star system. That means that this newly-discovered planet in its orbit, which researchers are calling Barnard&#8217;s Star b, is likely the <a href="https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1629/">second-closest</a> known exoplanet to Earth.
And the accolades don&#8217;t end there. Barnard&#8217;s Star b is being called a &#8220;super-Earth&#8221; — a planet with a mass higher than Earth&#8217;s, but lower than a planet like Neptune, which is about 17 times the size of Earth. Barnard&#8217;s Star b is believed to be about 3.2 times the size of Earth, and it orbits its star every 233 Earth days.
<figure id="attachment_143038" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-143038 size-large" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2018/11/eso1837b-1200x754.jpg" alt="Artist’s impression of super-Earth orbiting Barnard’s Star" width="1200" height="754" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Artist’s impression of super-Earth orbiting Barnard’s Star. Credit: ESO</figcaption></figure>
<h2>Decades of Dissent</h2>
Scientists are pretty sure about the existence of Barnard&#8217;s Star b.
&#8220;After a very careful analysis, we are 99% confident that the planet is there,&#8221; said lead scientist Ignasi Ribas, from the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia and the Institute of Space Sciences in Spain. &#8220;However, we’ll continue to observe this fast-moving star to exclude possible, but improbable, natural variations of the stellar brightness which could masquerade as a planet.&#8221;
That assurance is striking, because scientists have been searching for planets surrounding Barnard&#8217;s Star for decades. <a href="https://aas.org/obituaries/peter-van-de-kamp-1901-1995">Peter van de Kamp</a>, a Dutch astronomer, argued in the 1960s that there was not one planet orbiting the star, but two Jupiter-like gas giants after observing &#8220;wobbles&#8221; through his telescope. He&#8217;d been watching the star since 1938, but his claims were <a href="https://sites.psu.edu/astrowright/2012/08/14/barnards-stars-planets/">refuted in the 70s.</a> In fact, those wobbles might have even been the result of a telescope that needed cleaning. Seriously.
Van de Kamp stood by his claims until his death in 1995. But he wasn&#8217;t the only one looking into the possibility of exoplanets orbiting Bernard&#8217;s Star. In the Summer of 2012, a group of researchers led by UC Berkeley&#8217;s Jieun Choi <a href="http://arxiv.org/abs/1208.2273">doubled down on the evidence against Van de Kamp</a>: After 25 years of measurements, they concluded that &#8220;the habitable zone around Barnard&#8217;s star appears to be devoid of roughly Earth-mass planets or larger,&#8221; according to <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/08/bad-news-space-fans-barnards-star-151one-of-our-suns-closest-neighbors-151is-barren/261310/">The Atlantic</a>. 
These newest observations by the ESO show that, even if it might have been because of a fluke, Van de Kamp may have been right. In fact, Barnard&#8217;s Star b was discovered using that same &#8220;wobble&#8221; method, more formally known as the &#8220;Doppler effect.&#8221; As a planet orbits its star, its gravitational pull causes the wobble that can be seen using a high-powered telescope, and measured.
<h2>Life As We Know It</h2>
So the big question: could there be life on Barnard&#8217;s Star b?
It&#8217;s disappointing, but all current evidence points to a resounding &#8220;no.&#8221; And that&#8217;s where UB Berkeley&#8217;s previous 2012 findings still sort of stand.
The planet in question is close to Barnard&#8217;s Star — only 0.4 times the distance between Earth and the Sun. Great! Must be in the Goldilocks zone, right? Wrong. Unlike our Sun, Barnard&#8217;s Star is dimly lit. It only provides this new world with just 2 percent of the energy that the Earth gets from the Sun. The new exoplanet also lies close to the &#8220;snow line,&#8221; the region where water becomes ice. That means its surface temperature is probably around –170 ℃, &#8220;making it inhospitable for life as we know it,&#8221; according to the ESO.
Still, none of that should discourage the excitement that comes with such a discovery.
Just six years ago, we&#8217;d given up hope of finding a planet orbiting Barnard&#8217;s Star. Now we know we were wrong. And luckily there were scientists who were persistent and kept looking. Who knows what else could be hiding in spots that we&#8217;ve previously ruled out?
NASA&#8217;s Kepler has discovered <a href="https://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/docs/counts_detail.html">3,837 exoplanet candidates to date</a>. That number is only going to grow as our exoplanet-hunting technology becomes more advanced, and as international collaboration becomes more commonplace. This particular discovery was a result of the <a href="https://reddots.space/">Red Dots</a> and <a href="https://carmenes.caha.es/">CARMENES</a> projects, and used ESO’s famous planet-hunting <a href="https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/lasilla/36/harps/">HARPS</a> and <a href="https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/uves/">UVES</a> spectrographs.
&#8220;HARPS played a vital part in this project,&#8221; said Guillem Anglada Escudé, a researcher at Queen Mary University of London and co-lead scientist on the team. &#8220;We combined archival data from other teams with new, overlapping, measurements of Barnard’s star from different facilities.&#8221;
In total, the combination of all data led to a total of 771 measurements. Follow-up observations are already underway at different observatories worldwide.
The ability to combine measurements from multiple high-precisions instruments all over the world was key – and something scientists like Van de Kamp didn&#8217;t have access to in the past. And with upcoming work like the <a href="https://futurism.com/james-webb-space-telescope-launch-delayed-to-2019">James Webb</a> space telescope, we could soon find that the galaxy is less lonely than we thought.

Scientists just discovered the second-closest exoplanet to Earth

Hard Science

Scientists announced an abundance of new evidence pointing to an exoplanet orbiting Barnard's Star just six light-years from Earth.

Scientists Just Discovered the Second-Closest Exoplanet to Earth

Its existence has been questioned since the 1960s.

We have lots of ways to detect planets orbiting stars other than our Sun. Some planets are close enough that we can see them just by <a href="https://www.space.com/33619-visible-planets-guide.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">looking at the night sky</a>, while others are only detectable using <a href="https://www.space.com/32772-visiting-the-worlds-most-powerful-telescopes.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">powerful telescopes</a>. Some we can&#8217;t see at all — we only know they exist through to indirect evidence. We may see <a href="http://www.planetary.org/explore/space-topics/exoplanets/transit-photometry.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dips in the brightness of a distant star</a> that could indicate the passing of an orbiting planet or changes in a star&#8217;s color that could hint at the <a href="http://www.planetary.org/explore/space-topics/exoplanets/radial-velocity.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gravitational pull</a> of one.
Now, we have yet another way to find far-off planets: by looking for inconsistencies in gas flows around them.
That&#8217;s how two teams of astronomers discovered three new planets orbiting HD 163296, a very young, 4-million-year-old star roughly 330 light-years from Earth. These planets are the first detected using the<a href="http://www.eso.org/alma/"> Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA),</a> the world&#8217;s most powerful telescope for observing molecular gas and dust.
The researchers detailed their discoveries in <a href="http://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso1818/eso1818a.pdf">two</a> <a href="http://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso1818/eso1818b.pdf">papers</a> published Wednesday in the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters.
<figure id="attachment_132693" style="width: 700px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-132693 size-full" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2018/06/eso1818d.jpg" alt="HD 163296" width="700" height="701" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">HD 163296 is the bright star at the center of this image. Image Credit: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin</figcaption></figure>
Circling HD 163296 is a <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/jpl/pia20645/protoplanetary-disk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">protoplanetary disc</a>, a ring of gas and dust found around young stars. ALMA is able to capture highly detailed images of the carbon monoxide (CO) gas within this disc. By looking at subtle changes in the levels of that CO, researchers can figure out how the gas is moving. Inconsistencies in this motion could indicate the presence of a planet, even when researchers can&#8217;t actually see the planet. It&#8217;s like if you looked at a rock in a stream — the water flows around it. Make the rock invisible, and you&#8217;d still see the water flow disrupted.
“Measuring the flow of gas within a protoplanetary disc gives us much more certainty that planets are present around a young star,” Christophe Pinte, lead author on <a href="http://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso1818/eso1818a.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one of the two papers</a>, said in a <a href="https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1818/?lang" target="_blank" rel="noopener">European Southern Observatory (ESO) news release</a>.
Pine&#8217;s team discovered a planet an estimated 39 billion kilometers (24 million miles) from infant star HD 163296, while <a href="http://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso1818/eso1818b.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the other team</a>, led by University of Michigan astronomer Richard Teague, located two planets roughly 12 billion and 21 billion kilometres (7.4 billion and 13 billion miles) from the star. The researchers estimate that all three planets have a mass about that of Jupiter.
The two teams plan to apply their planet discovery technique to other protoplanetary discs. They believe they&#8217;ll be able to uncover the youngest planets in our galaxy, and observations of those planets could unveil new insights into the early formation of planetary systems such as our own.
And with every new planet we discover, we increase our chances of finding what we&#8217;re really hoping to see when we gaze up at the night sky: <a href="https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/the-search-for-life/life-signs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signs of life</a>.

They're the first planets discovered using new gas-detecting telescope ALMA.

Astronomers just discovered 3 planets in an entirely new way

Off World

Using a novel technique focused on the movement of gas, astronomers discovered three planets around the young star HD 163296.

Astronomers Just Discovered Three Planets in an Entirely New Way

The technique could help us find the youngest planets in our galaxy.

When astronomers looking for new exoplanets planets gaze up at the tranquil night sky and wish upon a star, they’re really just wishing those stars would get the hell out of the way. That’s because, when it comes to looking for planets, light can be the enemy. Starlight tends to totally wash out the planets, rendering them effectively invisible.
To filter out that light, <a href="http://www.news.ucsb.edu/2018/018769/hello-darkness">a team of international researchers</a> led by UC Santa Barbara physicist <a class="ext" href="http://web.physics.ucsb.edu/~bmazin/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Benjamin Mazin</a> developed a new tool called the DARK-speckle Near-infrared Energy-resolved Superconducting Spectrophotometer – A.K.A. DARKNESS (yeah, they probably did that on purpose). It&#8217;s the largest and most advanced superconducting camera in the world.
With DARKNESS, astronomers expect to spot planets that reflect light 100 million times dimmer than that of the stars they orbit. This, the researchers say, will get them as close as possible to the theoretical contrast limit (the point at which their findings get distorted).
The 10,000-pixel camera can record the exact point in time at which individual photons arrive, which helps researchers tell whether they’ve actually spotted a planet or just some cosmic distortion, which they call &#8220;speckles.&#8221;
Using DARKNESS, which is due for another round of testing and demonstrations in May, to filter out the light from stars will allow researchers to search for new planets in these Goldilocks or habitable zones – the just-right distance a planet has to be from a star to sustain life. Once these planets are spotted, researchers will be able to investigate them to look for signs of atmospheres or water.
While we’re nowhere near ready to begin manned missions to distant planets, the new technology used in DARKNESS marks a paradigm shift from other telescope cameras that are unable to directly image these planets. In turn, this may help inspire an entirely new generation of technology for probing and examining distant stars.

Star light, star bright, can you turn it down just a little?

Lights out: DARKNESS camera filters starlight to spot planets

With DARKNESS, astronomers expect to be able to spot planets that reflect light 100 million times dimmer than that of the stars they orbit.

Lights Out: DARKNESS Camera Filters Starlight to Spot Planets

Hello DARKNESS my old friend...

We know of many planets orbiting outside the solar system that, according to scientists, could <a href="https://futurism.com/kepler-k2-95-new-exoplanets/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">potentially hold the ingredients responsible for life</a>. However, they are often so far away we can&#8217;t glean much information from them. One way to bypass the problem is to simulate the atmospheric conditions of these cosmic bodies, known as exoplanets, in a lab. Now Researchers at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) have <a href="http://releases.jhu.edu/2018/03/07/exoplanet-atmosphere-simulations/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">drastically advanced these simulations </a>by conducting the first-ever lab experiments on haze formation in a simulated exoplanet atmosphere.
The study, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-018-0397-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published in the journal </a><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-018-0397-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nature Astronomy</a>, will help scientists create much better and more comprehensive exoplanet simulations. “One of the reasons why we’re starting to do this work is to understand if having a haze layer on these planets would make them more or less habitable,” said Sarah Hörst, lead author and assistant professor of Earth and planetary sciences at JHU, <a href="http://releases.jhu.edu/2018/03/07/exoplanet-atmosphere-simulations/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in a press release</a>.
While scientists can use telescopes to explore what gases make up the atmospheres of exoplanets, these telescopes don&#8217;t work as well with<a href="https://phys.org/news/2015-04-titan-atmosphere-hazy-exoplanets.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> planets that have hazy atmospheres</a>. This haze, which is made up of gas with suspended solid particles, interacts with light preventing researchers from measuring and understanding the planet&#8217;s gas composition.
It might seem surprising that these researchers are able to reproduce environments that we can&#8217;t fully see, let alone understand. But the research team was able to model the atmospheric conditions of super-Earths or mini-Neptunes (the predominant type of exoplanet we have found thus far) by working with a combination of gases they already knew well. In particular, they mapped different levels of three main gases (carbon dioxide, hydrogen, gaseous water), four other gases (helium, carbon monoxide, methane, nitrogen), and three sets of temperatures. Using this method they &#8220;created&#8221; nine virtual planets.
<figure style="width: 777px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-126754 size-large aligncenter" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2018/03/exoooooo.jpg" alt="An artist's interpretation of a hazy, early Earth. Image Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Francis Reddy" width="777" height="400" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">An artist&#8217;s interpretation of a hazy, early Earth. Image Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Francis Reddy</figcaption></figure>
This research could give scientists the tools to better predict if an unknown exoplanet is likely to be hazy. “Having a haze layer can change the temperature structure of an atmosphere,” said Hörst.<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/nasa-team-looks-to-ancient-earth-first-to-study-hazy-exoplanets" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Some scientists think that early-Earth </a>may have been protected by such a haze, and so understanding exactly how a haze layer affects the surface of an exoplanet could clue researchers into potential locations for past or future life.
Additionally, with the <a href="https://futurism.com/james-webb-telescope-budget-delay/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">upcoming launch of the James Webb Space Telescope</a>, it is possible that better understanding this haze will give scientists the information necessary to find ways to peer through it. Haze has stood between scientists and exoplanet research for many years, but now we might not only be able to see through the haze, learning about its nature could help us to better understand life&#8217;s origins.

They could offer clues on what makes a planet more or less habitable.

Hazy experiments could teach us about alien life

Scientists are now able to simulate the atmosphere of exoplanets in detail, looking at the haze that could hold the key to the emergence of alien life.

Hazy Experiments Could Teach Us About Alien Life

This is the first step to figuring out if there there could be life on exoplanets. 

Recently, scientists discovered that there is<a href="https://futurism.com/scientists-have-discovered-that-there-is-water-under-the-moons-surface/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> an enormous quantity of water</a> on the Moon, hiding beneath the surface. Since these initial findings, researchers with the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado have found evidence that this water is widely distributed all across the Moon and is <a href="https://phys.org/news/2018-02-scientists-characterize-lunar-surface.html">present during both the lunar day and the lunar night</a>.
However, they also noted that the water seems to exist mostly as OH (a reactive hydroxyl molecule, instead of H2O) and may not be easily accessed. These findings are <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-018-0065-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published in the journal </a><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-018-0065-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nature Geoscience</a>.
<figure style="width: 779px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-124572 size-large aligncenter" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2018/02/themoon-1200x960.jpg" alt="We're slowly understanding the water found on the Moon. Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons" width="779" height="399" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">We&#8217;re slowly understanding the water found on the Moon. Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons</figcaption></figure>
These discoveries could give researchers a better understanding of the origins of this Moon water and how it came to be distributed as it is. Not only that, but the information also could be a great asset for future missions to our lunar satellite.
Additionally, as more and more agencies and companies explore the possibility of traveling back to the Moon and <a href="https://futurism.com/global-superpowers-are-racing-to-build-a-base-on-the-moon/">setting up a lunar base</a>, this water could potentially be used as drinking water or even to be <a href="https://futurism.com/making-moon-space-gas-station/">turned into rocket fuel</a> by splitting apart hydrogen and oxygen.
<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/on-second-thought-the-moons-water-may-be-widespread-and-immobile/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">These findings are in direct opposition</a> to our earlier understanding of water on the Moon. Previously, researchers thought that the water formed primarily around the poles. Additionally, the water signal they were observing seemingly changed with the Moon&#8217;s day and night, leading them to initially conclude that the water was moving.
<figure style="width: 360px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://futurism.com/images/21908/"><img src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2016/01/The-Moon-Base_home_v2.jpg" alt="The Race for a Moon Base: Who Will Build the First Lunar Colony?" ></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text center"><a href="https://futurism.com/images/21908/" target="_blank">Click to View Full Infographic</a></figcaption></figure>
<a href="http://bgr.com/2018/02/23/water-on-the-moon-lunar-settlement/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">However, there is still some debate </a>about the location and behavior of the water because of the subtleties of the signals from the remote, infrared-sensing instruments used to support this study&#8217;s claims.
Beyond this discovery&#8217;s potential to expand human knowledge and our ability to live on and use the Moon as a resource, it could also allow scientists to better understand how water may exist on other rocky cosmic bodies. As we search for exoplanets, it can be difficult to concretely observe the conditions of their surfaces. Perhaps remote sensing instruments and new analysis techniques like those used for this study can improve such observations from afar.

The water doesn’t appear to move as the Moon transitions from day to night.

New study challenges previous conclusions about water on the Moon

After finding evidence of water on the Moon, researchers now believe the water is more widespread and reactive than initially thought.

New Study Challenges Previous Conclusions About Water on the Moon

These findings could fuel new studies – and future space missions, too.

<h2>Emerging Discovery</h2>
NASA&#8217;s K2 mission has provided a second chance for the Kepler Space Telescope <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/ames/nasas-k2-mission-the-kepler-space-telescopes-second-chance-to-shine">to push the boundaries</a> of observation and planet-hunting. Efforts to save Kepler after a 2013 malfunction recently paid off big time, as the collaborative international mission confirmed the existence of nearly 100 new exoplanets outside of our Solar System. This brings the total number of exoplanets <a href="https://futurism.com/keplers-latest-batch-of-alien-planets-reveals-20-second-earth-candidates/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found by the K2 mission</a> to nearly 300. These findings are published in <a href="http://iopscience.iop.org/journal/1538-3881" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Astronomical Journal</a>.
<figure id="attachment_122994" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-122994 size-large" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2018/02/keplerrr-1200x1081.jpg" alt="A diagram of how the Kepler telescope uses sunlight to balance itself and illuminate its solar panels, allowing it to continue searching for new exoplanets despite a malfunction in 2013. " width="1200" height="1081" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Behind the K2 Mission. Image Credit: NASA</figcaption></figure>
“We started out analyzing 275 candidates of which 149 were validated as real exoplanets. In turn 95 of these planets have proved to be new discoveries,&#8221; said Andrew Mayo, an American Ph.D. student at the National Space Institute (DTU Space) at the Technical University of Denmark, <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/emb_releases/2018-02/tuod-ksd021418.php">in a press release</a>.
According to Mayo, the team was able to find planets ranging in size, from smaller than the Earth to the size of Jupiter and even much larger. Within this mission, they were even able to find &#8220;the brightest star found by either the Kepler or K2 missions to host a validated planet,&#8221; Mayo said. &#8220;Planets around bright stars are important because astronomers can learn a lot about them from ground-based observatories.&#8221;
<h2>Advancing Exploration</h2>
These incredible findings did not come easy, as it can be difficult to distinguish between signals coming from exoplanets and those that are not. Signals can be caused by multiple star systems, spacecraft noise or other sources, so being able to identify exactly what these scientists were observing was a tricky task. <figure style="width: 360px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://futurism.com/images/the-science-of-searching-for-exoplanets-infographic/"><img src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2016/08/Exoplanets_home_v1.jpg" alt="The Science of Searching for Exoplanets [INFOGRAPHIC]" ></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text center"><a href="https://futurism.com/images/the-science-of-searching-for-exoplanets-infographic/" target="_blank">Click to View Full Infographic</a></figcaption></figure>
So far, both the Kepler and K2 missions have discovered over 5,100 exoplanet candidates, which scientists are currently analyzing.
So, what might <a href="https://futurism.com/kepler-discovery-nasa-announces-discovery-1200-new-alien-planets/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the discovery</a> of these new exoplanets mean? According to Mayo: &#8220;As more planets are discovered, astronomers will develop a much better picture of the nature of exoplanets which in turn will allow us to place our own solar system into a galactic context.”
In other words, better understanding other planets may allow us to better understand our own.

One of the discoveries is the brightest star with a planet Kepler has seen yet.

The Kepler mission has discovered nearly 100 new exoplanets

The Kepler telescope's K2 mission has discovered another 95 new exoplanets outside our Solar System, bringing its total to over 5,100 discovered.

The Kepler Mission Has Discovered Nearly 100 New Exoplanets

Learning more about these planets could put our own home in a galactic context.

<h2>AI in Space Exploration</h2>
Given the rate at which artificial intelligence (AI) has been advancing, it&#8217;s proving difficult to place bets on just how far the technology will be able to go. Not just here on Earth, but beyond, as researchers harness the power of AI in space exploration to take us to the outskirts of the universe.  According to <a href="https://www-aig.jpl.nasa.gov/public/home/chien/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Steve Chien, Technical Group Supervisor of the Artificial Intelligence Group and Senior Research Scientist</a> at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, not only is AI becoming an integral part of advancing space exploration, it has become clear that<a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-nasas-search-for-et-relies-on-advanced-ai/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> the search for extraterrestrial life could be the &#8220;ultimate test&#8221; </a>for AI in space exploration. Such a search has long been believed to require the kind of creative and intuitive decision making that, for now at least, seems uniquely human.
Chien stated in an interview with Scientific American that &#8220;Unsupervised learning is extremely important to analyzing the unknown. A big part of what humans are able to do is interpret data that are unfamiliar.&#8221;
NASA is currently adopting a number of AI technologies, as are others working on space exploration ventures. According to Chien, the upcoming <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/mars-2020/">Mars 2020 Mission </a>will incorporate three major areas of AI: the rovers themselves will be equipped for autonomous driving, the systems that assist the rovers in performing science tasks will make use of AI, and they will also have a &#8220;sophisticated scheduling system that enables them to be more dynamic&#8221; allowing the rovers to adjust their to-do list accordingly so that they don&#8217;t lag behind on productivity.
<h2>Life Out There</h2>
While AI is a major tool to aid in space exploration, the search for life in the universe is also a testing grounds for those AI technologies. &#8220;The ultimate test of AI in space is a much longer-duration mission,&#8221; Chien explained, giving the example of heading to TRAPPIST-1, which is about 40 light years from us – and that&#8217;s on top of the 60 years or so it takes to get to Proxima Centauri. &#8220;With that delay in communications, the spacecraft is pretty much on its own,&#8221; Chien told Scientific American, &#8220;So when you launch a mission like that you will need an amazing AI and then just have to cross your fingers.&#8221;
The search for extraterrestrial life will require<a href="https://futurism.com/the-exolife-finder-telescope-could-revolutionize-the-search-for-life-on-exoplanets/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> a unique level and type of exploration</a>. We can locate exoplanets using existing technologies, but Chien is correct that<a href="https://futurism.com/scientist-plan-send-building-blocks-life-distant-exoplanets/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> it will take serious advancements</a> for us to build drone crafts capable of traveling to these far-off exoplanets. The crafts will need to not only endure years of solo travel but be able to cope and respond to constantly changing, extremely unpredictable circumstances. From temperature variations to cosmic objects, no matter how advanced the technology on these crafts, they will need to use human-like levels of creativity and intuition to pass the &#8220;ultimate&#8221; test.

"When you launch a mission like that you will need an amazing AI and then just have to cross your fingers."

A NASA expert says that this is the "ultimate" test for AI in space exploration

AI will need human-like levels of creativity and intuition to pass the "ultimate" test of reaching far-off parts of the universe that may be habitable.  

/Exoplanet

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