Exoplanets articles from across Nature Portfolio

Exoplanets are the celestial bodies orbiting stars other than our Sun. Their small size makes them difficult to detect from Earth, particularly as they appear much dimmer than their parent stars. So indirect methods are employed, such as observing changes in starlight as a result of the exoplanet and its motion.

Latest Research and Reviews

  • Research |

    A planetary origin model that forms exoplanets from a narrow ring of silicate material at a stellocentric distance of 1 au is able to explain the physical properties of super-Earths and reproduce the ‘peas in a pod’ pattern of uniformity within planetary architecture.

    • Konstantin Batygin
    •  & Alessandro Morbidelli
    Nature Astronomy 7, 330-338
  • Research
    | Open Access

    The transmission spectrum of the exoplanet WASP-39b is obtained using observations from the Single-Object Slitless Spectroscopy mode of the Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph instrument aboard the JWST.

    • Adina D. Feinstein
    • , Michael Radica
    •  & Xi Zhang
    Nature 614, 670-675
  • Research
    | Open Access

    A broad-wavelength 0.5–5.5 µm atmospheric transmission spectrum of WASP-39b, a 1,200 K, roughly Saturn-mass, Jupiter-radius exoplanet, demonstrates JWST’s sensitivity to a rich diversity of exoplanet compositions and chemical processes.

    • Z. Rustamkulov
    • , D. K. Sing
    •  & S. Zieba
    Nature 614, 659-663
  • Research
    | Open Access

    The medium-resolution transmission spectrum of the exoplanet WASP-39b, described using observations from the Near Infrared Spectrograph G395H grating aboard JWST, shows significant absorption from CO2 and H2O and detection of SO2.

    • Lili Alderson
    • , Hannah R. Wakeford
    •  & Xi Zhang
    Nature 614, 664-669
  • Research |

    A comprehensive study of the Kepler-138 system reveals the twin nature of Kepler-138 c and d and the presence of a fourth planet. Remarkably, the warm-temperate planet Kepler-138 d is probably composed of 50% volatiles by volume, indicative of a water world, rather than a rocky world, despite its small ~1.5 R size.

    • Caroline Piaulet
    • , Björn Benneke
    •  & Ian Wong
    Nature Astronomy 7, 206-222

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