Phil Plait

Bad Astronomy

Sunsquatch

Being bombarded with so much high-energy radiation does not bode well for HIP 67522 b. The planet is similar in size to Jupiter but has the density of candy floss, making it one of the wispiest exoplanets ever found.

Over time, the radiation carried by the flares is eroding away the planet’s wispy atmosphere, meaning it is losing mass much faster than we thought. In the next 100 million years, HIP 67522 b could go from an almost Jupiter-sized planet to a much smaller Neptune-sized planet.

(Image Credit: 
Janine Fohlmeister (Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam))

Cheops-stellar-flares

Learn about new observations that reveal an exoplanet is destroying itself by cuddling up to its host star, in an astronomical first.

A Clingy, Cotton Candy Exoplanet Is Causing Its Host Star to Flare Up

 Image of the disk around the star TWA 7 recorded using ESO’s Very Large Telescope’s SPHERE instrument. The image captured with JWST’s MIRI instrument is overlayed. We can clearly see the empty area around TWA 7 B in the R2 ring (CC #1). (Image Credit: JWST/ESO/Lagrange) 

JWST TWA7 

Learn more about TWA 7 b, an exoplanet with the mass of Saturn that was captured by creating a fake eclipse.

James Webb Space Telescope Captures Smallest Exoplanet Ever Seen in Historic First

(Image Credit: NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory)

Virgo cluster 2

Discover the first images from NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory and learn about what it's new mission is for space.

Take a First Look at the Vera C. Rubin Images: Millions of Galaxies and Thousands of Asteroids

The Big Crunch Theory. (Image Credit: Quality Stock Arts/Shutterstock)

The Big Crunch illustration

What is the Big Crunch theory? This theory is highly debated, but could be what happens when you hit the rewind button of the Big Bang.

The Big Crunch Theory Is Revived as Recent Data Shows Our Expanding Universe Slowing Down

The ESA-led Solar Orbiter spacecraft got its first good look at the Sun's south pole in March 2025. (Image Credit: ESA & NASA/Solar Orbiter/SPICE Team, M. Janvier (ESA) & J. Plowman (SwRI))

Sun's south pole

Learn how the European Space Agency’s spacecraft captured a completely new view of the Sun, thanks to its novel tilted orbit. 

Here Are the First Images of the Sun’s South Pole, a Completely New View in Our Solar System

An unlucky massive star approaches a supermassive black hole. (Image Credit: University of Hawaiʻi)

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