Tidally-locked planets — planets with one side perpetually facing their star while the other remains shrouded in darkness — tend to be warmer on one side than the other. The presence of an atmosphere ...

There’s a reason we only ever see one side of the Moon. It’s tidally locked to the Earth, presenting only one side to us as it orbits around the planet. Tidal locking is a fate that befalls lots of ...

Lightning, with its extreme temperatures, is capable of transforming atmospheric gases into prebiotic compounds. These molecules are essential for the emergence of life, as may have been the case on ...

Many exoplanets to be found by coming high-powered telescopes will probably be tidally locked — with one side permanently facing their host star — according to new research by astronomer Rory Barnes ...

Red dwarf stars are abundant and long-lived, frequently hosting exoplanets, with a notable percentage potentially being rocky, Earth-sized worlds within their habitable zones, thus raising prospects ...

Even a thin atmosphere can keep a planet spinning freely, giving it a day-and-night cycle like Earth's, say astronomers in Canada and France. The result implies that many of the planets lying within ...