After passing a major milestone assessment, ESA's next-generation planet-hunting mission, Plato, has been granted the permission to continue development.
Exoplanet TOI-674b first caught the attention of astronomers because it is big and orbits around a small star. Now, scientists discovered that its atmosphere has water vapor, which is unusual for a planet orbiting far from its star.
A study detected the presence of a new exoplanet GJ 367b just outside of our solar system. The planet is rich in iron an has density similar to Mercury. It could complete a revolution around its red dwarf parent star in less than a day.
In recent years, scientists have discovered a number of planets that, if not the title of "twin of the Earth," at least claim to be its closest equivalents.