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Could Earth survive the Sun's demise?

9 September 2005

Solar systems may persist around stars that reach the end of their lifetimes, flare up and collapse into white dwarves, new observations suggest

Most Earth-like exoplanet yet is discovered

14 June 2005

The planet, just seven or eight times as massive as Earth, is found circling a nearby star – similar discoveries look set to follow

Green little people

25 May 2005

Young Sun's X-ray flares may have saved Earth

11 May 2005

Titanic flares may create turbulence in the swirling dust discs around young stars, preventing nascent planets from spiralling in to their destruction

UK election special: Talking science

29 April 2005

With a general election fast approaching, New Scientist quizzes the three main political parties over their positions on 10 key scientific issues

First image of exoplanet orbiting Sun-like star

4 April 2005

The relative youth of the system, and the planet's far-flung orbit, allows astronomers to pick the object out from the star's glare

Glow of alien planets glimpsed at last

22 March 2005

For the first time, astronomers have seen the glow of alien planets circling Sun-like stars, heralding a "new era" in planet hunting

Planet search reveals smallest star ever

4 March 2005

Barely bigger than Jupiter, only a close second look revealed it to be a star, highlighting the need to check "exoplanets" very carefully

Brown dwarf may someday harbour habitable planets

8 February 2005

The dusty disc spotted around a tiny brown dwarf may become the building site for a mini solar system, with several Earth-sized planets

First direct sighting of an extrasolar planet

11 January 2005

The distant planet, five times more massive than Jupiter, orbits a brown dwarf – but at a puzzlingly great distance