This gas giant planet is moving closer to its star
A newly discovered gas giant planet with an elliptical, comet-like orbit is closing in on its host star, according to new research by a...
How asteroid, comet strikes may have delayed evolution of atmosphere
Between 2.5 and 4 billion years ago, a time known as the Archean eon, Earth’s weather could often be described as cloudy with a...
The early solar system had a gap where the asteroid belt is today
Wind the cosmic clock back a few billion years and our Solar System looked much different than it does today.
About 4.5 billion years ago,...
Scientists reveal the makeup of exoplanets known as hot Jupiters
Hot Jupiters – giant gas planets that race around their host stars in extremely tight orbits – have become a little bit less mysterious...
Scientists find strange black superionic ice that could exist inside other planets
Scientists used diamonds and a beam of brilliant X-rays to recreate the conditions deep inside planets, and found a new phase of water called...
Scientists reveal the makeup of exoplanets known as hot Jupiters
Hot Jupiters – giant gas planets that race around their host stars in extremely tight orbits – have become a little bit less mysterious...
Scientists find evidence of a giant impact that occurred in a nearby star system
Young planetary systems generally experience extreme growing pains, as infant bodies collide and fuse to form progressively larger planets.
In our own solar system, the...
47 lunar fragments help fill gap of two billion years in lunar history
China's Chang'E-5 lunar sampling mission returned the first lunar samples since the Apollo and Luna missions, the last of which was in 1976.
The 3.8...
Astronomers see white dwarf switch on and off for the first time
Astronomers have used a planet-hunting satellite to see a white dwarf abruptly switching on and off for the first time.
The researchers led by Durham...
Scientists propose new way to defend the Earth against cosmic impacts
In February of 2013, skywatchers around the world turned their attention toward asteroid 2012 DA14, a cosmic rock about 150 feet (50 meters) in...