Aliens have long been a staple of science fiction. Yet the possibility of intelligent life beyond Earth is more than a matter of imagination—it is also a subject of serious scientific inquiry.

Every morning on a planet nearly 700 light years away, clouds roll in. By evening, the sky clears. It sounds like a weather report from home, but it is actually the most detailed picture yet of an ...

On Earth, a cloudy morning giving way to a clear evening is unremarkable, the kind of forecast that barely warrants a glance at the weather app. On a gas giant orbiting a star nearly 700 light-years ...