Planets
Astronomers See the Afterglow Where Two Ice Giant Planets Collided
What would happen if two giant planets collided? It would be terrifying to behold if it happened in our Solar…
When did the First Continents Appear in the Universe?
On Earth, continents are likely necessary to support life. Continents 'float' on top of the Earth's viscous mantle, and heat…
JWST Sees Newly Forming Planets Swimming in Water
One big question about Earth’s formation is, where did all the water come from? New data from the James Webb…
One in Ten Stars Ate a Jupiter (Or Bigger)
In space, cataclysmic events happen to stars all the time. Some explode as supernovae, some get torn apart by black…
Astronomers Watch a Star Gulp Down One of its Planets
A star like our Sun only shines the way it does because of its intrinsic balance. Stars are massive, and…
A Rogue Earth and Neptune Might Have Been Found in Older Data
Scientists have found what appear to be rogue planets hidden in old survey data. Their results are starting to define…
A White Dwarf is Surrounded by Torn-up Pieces of its Inner Planets and its Kuiper Belt
What will happen to our Sun? In several billion years, it'll cease fusion, shrivel into a white dwarf, and emanate…
Compare Sand Dunes Across the Solar System, From Venus to Pluto
A new study explains how bodies as different as Venus, Earth, Mars, Pluto, Titan, and Triton can all have sand…
Civilizations Don’t Even Need Space Ships to Migrate From Star System to Star System
In about 5 billion years, the Sun will leave the main sequence and become a red giant. It'll expand and…
The Younger the Planet, the More Likely it is to be Habitable
We've discovered thousands of exoplanets and are likely to find many thousands more of them. While the wide variety of…