Daniel Apai – The Conversation

Novo equipamento recém-lançado para a órbita da Terra vai complementar observações do Telescópio Espacial James Webb ao permitir analisar interferência de variações no brilho e comportamento das estrelas hospedeiras nas medições sobre exoplanetas. European Space Agency

January 13, 2026

Telescópio espacial Pandora vai estudar estrelas em detalhes para sabermos mais sobre os planetas que as orbitam

Daniel Apai, University of Arizona

As descobertas do Pandora complementarão os dados do Telescópio Espacial James Webb, proporcionando aos astrônomos mais informações sobre estrelas e planetas fora do nosso Sistema Solar.

A new NASA mission will study exoplanets around distant stars. European Space Agency

January 11, 2026

NASA’s Pandora telescope will study stars in detail to learn about the exoplanets orbiting them

Daniel Apai, University of Arizona

The findings from Pandora will complement data from the James Webb Space Telescope to give astronomers more insight into stars and planets outside our solar system.

Some ‘water worlds’ like Jupiter’s moon Europa could potentially be habitable for life. NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute

June 2, 2025

New model helps to figure out which distant planets may host life

Daniel Apai, University of Arizona

As NASA rolls out more powerful telescopes in the future, scientists will need a way to determine where to point them. A new approach could help.

An illustration of the exoplanet K2-18b, which some research suggests may be covered by deep oceans. NASA, ESA, CSA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)

April 18, 2025

Scientists found a potential sign of life on a distant planet – an astronomer explains why many are still skeptical

Daniel Apai, University of Arizona

The exoplanet K2-18b could harbor a massive ocean, but scientists will need to study the planet more to see if it’s really likely to host life.

A light, cheap space telescope design would make it possible to put many individual units in space at once. Katie Yung, Daniel Apai /University of Arizona and AllThingsSpace /SketchFab

July 12, 2023

A new, thin‑lensed telescope design could far surpass James Webb – goodbye mirrors, hello diffractive lenses

Daniel Apai, University of Arizona

Space telescopes are limited in size due to the difficulties and cost of getting into orbit. By revamping an old optical technology, researchers are working on a lightweight and thin telescope design.

TRAPPIST-1e is a rocky exoplanet in the habitable zone of a star 40 light-years from Earth and may have water and clouds, as depicted in this artist’s impression. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Wikimedia Commons

July 14, 2022

To search for alien life, astronomers will look for clues in the atmospheres of distant planets – and the James Webb Space Telescope just proved it’s possible to do so

Chris Impey, University of Arizona and Daniel Apai, University of Arizona

Life on Earth has dramatically changed the chemistry of the planet. Astronomers will measure light that bounces off distant planets to look for similar clues that they host life.

A starchart by Alexander Jamieson from 1822 showing the constellation Cetus, the Sea Monster. Cetus is located in the region of the sky known as the Water, along with other watery constellations such as Aquarius, Pisces and Eridanus. Buyenlarge/Getty Images

November 9, 2020

Exoplanets are still out there – a new model tells astronomers where to look for more using 4 simple variables

Daniel Apai, University of Arizona and Jeremy Dietrich, University of Arizona

New mathematical technique enables astronomers to predict the whereabouts of missing worlds around nearby stars.

This artist’s impression shows a view of the planet Proxima b orbiting the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the solar system. ESO/M. Kornmesser

November 5, 2019

NASA’s TESS spacecraft is finding hundreds of exoplanets – and is poised to find thousands more

Daniel Apai, University of Arizona and Benjamin Rackham, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Beyond the outer edge of the Solar System, mysterious, unknown worlds await by the thousands. Astronomers can now finally find them and explore them - but will we find another Earth?

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