If you are feeling alone in the universe, this news from 2000 of the search for new planets might inspire you. This resource comes from the meeting of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in Manchester England. Researchers at the University of California; the University of Arizona; Geneva Observatory, Switzerland; and Grenouble Observatory, France are reporting on their finds as part of the...

The California and Carnegie Planet Research website presents the University of California Berkeley and the Carnegie Institution of Washington's investigations of planets around other stars. In the Public link, users can find easily understandable details on the diversity of exoplanets and on planet detection techniques. Researchers can find more technical details in the Scientific Research Site...

The Extrasolar Visions Web site provides a searchable guide to extra solar planets. These include planets of normal stars, pulsar planets, brown dwarfs, protoplanetary disks and protoplanets, extragalactic worlds, massive compact halo objects, and disproven or doubtful worlds. Visitors can search for these objects or view the week's 20 most popular systems, 20 most interesting systems, or the 20...

The Hubble Space Telescope has returned an image of what is possibly the first planet outside our solar system. TMR-1C, about 450 light years away in the constellation Taurus, appears to have been "flung away from the vicinity of a newly forming pair of binary stars," as evidenced by a luminescent filament leading from the "planet" back to the stars. "Susan Terebey of the Extrasolar Research...

This website addresses NASA's goal of embarking on a series of missions to find and characterize planets around stars other than the sun to help determine if life exists on other planets. Users can view the fascinating video summarizing the missions and can take an interactive quiz to test their knowledge of the realities of extraterrestrial life and space exploration. The site presents an...

"SuperWASP is the UK's leading extra-solar planet detection program comprising of a consortium of seven academic institutions." The website presents how SuperWASP works through clear text and helpful images. Researchers can find technical information on the Torus Fork Mount, CCD Cameras, and the Enclosure. Students and educators can discover the common techniques the Program uses to detect...

NASA is conducting the Kepler Mission to detect "terrestrial planets, that is, rocky and Earth-size, around other stars." Visitors can discover the importance of this mission and its objective as well as learn how extra solar terrestrial planets are discovered and confirmed. Through concise descriptions and informational figures, users can find out how differential photometry, stellar variability,...

In other space and planetary news, researchers have found signs of a Jupiter-sized planet near one of the Big Dipper's stars. To learn more, check out the University of California Planet Search program's press release that contains astronomical data, a sky chart, and links.