Department of Astronomy

The discovery of an Earth-size planet around the nearest star to Earth has generated a lot of buzz, and even speculation that a robotic probe may soon visit the world.

University of Washington astronomer Rory Barnes says Proxima Centauri b is the biggest discovery in 20 years for planet hunters like himself.

The University of Washington-based Virtual Planetary Laboratory is taking the discovery of the nearest planet found to our own solar system to the next phase.

KOMO Radio's Herb Weisbaum interviews Rory Barnes, professor of astronomy at the UW, about the potential for habitability of Proxima b.

The discovery of a roughly Earth-size planet around Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to Earth, has generated a lot of buzz.

In case you weren’t on Earth on Wednesday, here’s what you missed: Astronomers found a planet as close by as a planet could possibly be — in the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri.

An Earth-sized planet that could boast water, even an ocean, has been found circling the star nearest our sun.

On Wednesday astronomers made the kind of announcement that can only occur once in human history: the discovery of the nearest potentially habitable world beyond our solar system.

This year’s Perseid meteor shower is expected to be unusually intense. UW astronomer Woody Sullivan is quoted.

Using observations of storms in the solar system, a team of astronomers has extrapolated to predict lightning on several exoplanets.

Scientists for the first time have directly detected key organic compounds in a comet.

Are we alone? Fifty-five years ago, astronomer Frank Drake came up with an equation that weighed the odds for aliens.

Alien life on exoplanets just might not flourish and just might die young, according to one study. Another study, co-authored by UW astronomy professor Woody Sullivan, is referenced.

Astronomers think they've found a "super Earth" that might be capable of sustaining life. UW scientists Eric Agol, Rory Barnes, Cecilia Bitz, Benjamin Charnay and Victoria Meadows were involved.

The Rosetta spacecraft has discovered key building blocks of life in the dust of a comet.