On Earth, plants are green because they reflect green light and absorb red and blue wavelengths. But on planets orbiting ...

Thousands of exoplanets have been discovered, but only a small number fall within the habitable zone where liquid water could ...

Two of the earliest Earth-ish exoplanet finds are now more exciting targets in the search for habitable worlds beyond this rock. Eric Mack has been a CNET contributor since 2011. Eric and his family ...

Astronomers in a recent breakthrough have identified 45 new rocky exoplanets that could harbour and support alien life. The ...

Astronomers have narrowed down the cosmic search for life, identifying fewer than 50 rocky planets among thousands of known ...

Researchers suggest that the list could be a starting point when looking for signals that could indicate alien life – or ...

The artist's concept depicts Kepler-186f , the first validated Earth-size planet to orbit a distant star in the habitable zone—a range of distance from a star where liquid water might pool on the ...

Kepler-186f orbits an M dwarf star in the constellation Cygnus. More importantly, it's the first confirmed Earth-size, potentially habitable planet elsewhere in the universe. Eric Mack has been a CNET ...

NASA's planet-hunting Kepler space telescope has just spotted Earth's cousin. Its next big find may be Earth's twin. On Thursday (April 17), astronomers announced the discovery of Kepler-186f, the ...

Artist's concept shows Kepler-186f , the first validated Earth-size planet to orbit a distant star in the habitable zone. ( Image courtesy NASA Ames/SETI Institute/JPL-Caltech) WASHINGTON, DC, April ...

Technicians working inside the Astrotech Space Operations facility near NASA's Kennedy Space Center look over the Kepler spacecraft soon after it arrived in Florida in preparation for launch. [Read ...