Topic
Astronomical methods—including transit, microlensing, radial velocity, and direct imaging—used to find and study planets beyond our solar system.
Amateur astronomer Pavel Rabtsevich searched TESS data for more than 126,000 stars with AI agents and flagged TIC 4206066 as a super-Earth candidate. Three other searches had also picked up the signal, and thruster firings may explain some of the dips, so the planet is unconfirmed.
Reality
Astronomers led by the University of Michigan ruled out planets of Jupiter's mass or more within 5 AU of 70 Oph A and 0.5 AU of 70 Oph B. The nearby binary remains a candidate target for future habitable-planet observatories, now with a measured limit on giants in its inner regions.
Reality
NASA's Roman Space Telescope, launched Aug. 30, 2026, will find planets in the brief brightening of background stars. That method reaches the cold, wide orbits current catalogs barely sample.
Reality
Every dollar of the $4.3bn observatory rode one vehicle from one provider, which is the concentration number to carry into any space-sector position, whatever the science eventually turns out to be worth.
Reality
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman telescope can launch as soon as August 30 with Hubble-class resolution across a field about 100 times larger. Those pixels have to go somewhere.
Reality