Planetary Formation
What Has the Kuiper Belt Taught Us About The Solar System?
Over 4 billion miles (6.7 billion km) from the Sun, the Kuiper Belt is a vast zone of frozen worlds…
A First: Star Caught in the Act of Devouring a Planet
How’s this for a depressing look into Earth’s potential future: astronomers have witnessed the first evidence of a planet's destruction…
The Case of the Disappearing Dust
Astronomy has always taught us that planets form from vast clouds of dust and gas orbiting young stars. It's a…
Worlds Without Suns: Nomad Planets Could Number In The Quadrillions
[/caption] The concept of nomad planets has been featured before here on Universe Today, and for good reason. Not only…
Will This Be The Fate Of The Earth?
[/caption] Astronomers have found four nearby white dwarf stars surrounded by disks of material that could be the remains of…
Rogue Planets Can Find Homes Around Other Stars
[/caption] As crazy as it sounds, free-floating rogue planets have been predicted to exist for quite some time and just…
‘Nomad’ Planets Could Outnumber Stars 100,000 to 1
[/caption] Could the number of wandering planets in our galaxy – planets not orbiting a sun -- be more than…
Recent Geologic Activity on the Moon?
[/caption] Recent images from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera provide evidence that the lunar crust may be pulling apart in…
Scientists Find New Clues About the Interiors of ‘Super-Earth’ Exoplanets
[/caption] As we learned in science class in school, the Earth has a molten interior (the outer core) deep beneath…
How Well Can Astronomers Study Exoplanet Atmospheres?
[/caption] Exoplanet discoveries are happening at a frenetic pace, and some of the latest newly discovered worlds are sometimes described…