A new study from a group of researchers including San Francisco State University astronomer Stephen Kane has detailed the first-ever temperature map of a super-Earth planet — a rocky planet outside of our solar system. The research was published online March 30 in Nature. The thermal map of 55 Cancri e shows that the planet is…

Led by SF State astronomer Stephen Kane, a team of researchers has spotted an extrasolar planet about 117 light-years from earth that boasts the most eccentric orbit yet seen. What’s more, Kane and his colleagues were able to detect a signal of reflected light from the planet known as HD 20782 — a “flash” of…