New article on Inoreader

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKv3UT62zZgBWeZ4j8gpkjgThe Future Of Space Travel ★ Alien Life Could Be Hiding Out on Far Fewer Planets Than -

All four outer planets in our solar system sport at least a few rings, but so far, we haven't observed any such features around exoplanets.

That's confusing, since these rings should be detectable with our current technology. A recent paper suggests that, actually, we've already seen ringed exoplanets, just in the form of strangely large, "superpuff" planets.

Except in rare cases, we don't get to take pictures of exoplanets directly. Instead, scientists have to infer the existence of these worlds through a series of lucky breaks. The most common method for spotting worlds around distant stars is to sit and stare at those suns for weeks on end, watching for any changes in brightness. If that star happens to host a planet, and if that planet's orbit happens to carry it in front of the face of that star from our point of view, and if that planet happens to be big enough, then scientists can detect the subtle dimming as the star's light is blocked.