Xi Zhang

Meticulous 14-year observations of three 'cotton-candy' exoplanets in Kepler-51 yielded an unexpected surprise. The James Webb Space Telescope recorded the outermost known planet crossing the star's disk two hours ahead of schedule. The anomaly was only explained by adding an invisible fourth planet

LTT-9779 b is a planet from the 'hot Neptune desert', a region where worlds usually perish. But it survived thanks to a carbon cocoon: an atmosphere of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide turned out to be so thick that it doesn't evaporate even at 2000°C. On top of that, this exoplanet reflects 80% o

VHS 1256B is a giant planet, drifting alone in the dark. Its brightness swings by 40% due to global storms of scorching sand. Data from the James Webb telescope and computer models showed that dust clouds blanket the planet entirely, explaining the strange changes in its light and color. This discov