Planetary Formation

Clumps Around a Young Star Could Eventually Turn Into Planets Like Jupiter

New images from the European Southern Observatory show a young star surrounded by dusty clumps that could collapse and create…

4 months ago

Venus Needed Asteroid Impacts to Get its Volcanoes Going

Unlike Earth, Venus lacks the plate tectonics that give rise to volcanoes. But the surface of Venus looks far younger…

4 months ago

Some Star Systems Create a Planet Sandwich

A recent study presented at the National Astronomy Meeting 2023 (NAM2023) examines a newly discovered planetary formation theory that challenges…

5 months ago

A Planet has Whipped Up Spiral Arms Around a Young Star

Astronomers have observed dozens of newly forming stars surrounded by protoplanetary disks. Some look like grooved vinyl records, while others…

5 months ago

Bizarre Exoplanet Breaks All the Orbital Rules

A fluffy hot jupiter has an orbit that doesn't line up with the rotation of its star.

7 months ago

What Would Happen if the Solar System Gained a Super-Earth?

In this era of exoplanet discovery, astronomers have found over 5,000 confirmed exoplanets, with thousands more awaiting confirmation and many…

10 months ago

Most Exoplanets Suffer Worse Space Weather Than We Do

We have it relatively easy on the Earth. Our Sun is relatively calm. The space weather environment in the solar…

12 months ago

Trading Spaces: How Swapping Stars Create Hot Jupiters

Star clusters tend to host more hot Jupiters than average, but why? A team of astronomers have proposed a new…

12 months ago

Baby Gas Giants Cast Shadows on Their Siblings

A team of astronomers has caught glimpses of gas giants forming around a very young star. The nascent giants are…

12 months ago

It’s Tough to Find Evidence of Stars Eating Planets

Tragically sometimes stars engulf their own planets. While most stars are able to quickly cover up the evidence for their…

1 year ago