These days, we're used to seeing pictures of planets sent back by spacecraft. Some pictures look colourful, others less so. But do they show what each planet really looks like? The short answer to ...

Atmospheric characterization of directly imaged planets has thus far been limited to ground-based observations of young, self-luminous, Jovian planets. Near-term space- and ground- based facilities ...

Astronomers from Cornell have developed a practical model that they call an environmental color decoder. The new practical model is designed to find climate clues to help in the search for potentially ...

My favorite planet is Earth. I can’t help it. It’s my cozy home. It’s also a brilliant blue with bits of brown and swirly white. I like that I can look at a photo of Earth and see familiar things – ...

THE vivid reds and pinks of Mars provide vital clues about the planet’s mineral composition. Unfortunately these colours are becoming increasing difficult to pick out in the pictures being sent back ...

detection of exoplanets with masses like Uranus and Neptune. Moreover, in the case of low-mass stars – like Proxima Centauri, cf. ESO PR 05/03 – HARPS will have the unique capability to detect big ...

These days, we’re used to seeing pictures of planets sent back by spacecraft. Some pictures look colourful, others less so. But do they show what each planet really looks like? The short answer to ...