Planetary Formation

Astronomers Image 62 Newly-Forming Planetary Systems

Astronomers using the Very Large Telescope in Chile have now completed one of the largest surveys ever to hunt for…

2 weeks ago

Massive Stars Have the Power to Shape Solar Systems

Stars shape their solar systems. It's true of ours, and it's true of others. But for some massive stars, their…

2 weeks ago

This Planet-Forming Disk has More Water Than Earth’s Oceans

Astronomers have detected a large amount of water vapour in the protoplanetary disk around a young star. There's at least…

3 weeks ago

How We Get Planets from Clumping Dust

Our gleaming Earth, brimming with liquid water and swarming with life, began as all rocky planets do: dust. Somehow, mere…

3 weeks ago

A Planetary Disk in the Orion Nebula is Destroying and Replenishing Oceans of Water Every Month

Planet-forming disks are places of chaotic activity. Not only do planetesimals slam together to form larger worlds, but it now…

3 weeks ago

Radio Telescope Confirms Free-Floating Binary Planets in the Orion Nebula

Planets orbit stars. That's axiomatic. Or at least it was until astronomers started finding rogue planets, also called free-floating planets…

1 month ago

Some Young Planets Are Flattened Smarties, not Spheres.

One of contemporary astronomy's most pressing questions concerns planet formation. We can see more deeply than ever into very young…

1 month ago

Planetary Surfaces: Why study them? Can they help us find life elsewhere?

Universe Today recently explored the importance of studying impact craters and what they can teach us about finding life beyond…

2 months ago

Half of this Exoplanet is Covered in Lava

Astronomers working with TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) have discovered a planet that's been left out in the Sun too…

2 months ago

Planetesimals Are Buffeted by Wind in their Nebula, Throwing Debris into Space

Before planets form around a young star, the protosolar disk is populated with innumerable planetesimals. Over time, these planetesimals combine…

2 months ago