It would appear that the so-called “great instability” event that wreaked chaos among the planets, sending the gas giants careening through space until they settled into the orbits we know today, occurred between 60 and 100 million years after the birth of the solar system. This is the conclusion of some careful scientific detective work … Read more
Astronomers have long believed that the ice giants Uranus and Neptune are rich in frozen water. However, a new study suggests they may also have tons of methane ice. The findings could help solve a puzzle about how these icy worlds formed. Much about Uranus and Neptune remains unknown. These ice giant worlds have had … Read more
The solar system is an enormous place. Our cosmic neighborhood includes eight planets, around half a dozen dwarf planets, several hundred moons and millions of asteroids and comets, all spinning around the sun — and in many cases each other —at speeds of thousands of miles per hour, like a giant top. But where does … Read more
About one in every 12 stars may have swallowed a planet, a new study finds. Previous research had discovered that some distant stars possess unusual levels of elements, such as iron, which one would expect to make up rocky worlds such as Earth. This and other evidence suggested that stars may sometimes ingest planets, but much remained uncertain … Read more
Many maps of the solar system make it look as though everything in space moves in perfect, concentric circles. Planets orbit the sun, and moons orbit the planets. So that must be the case for everything in space, right? Not quite. Orbits form all sorts of shapes. “Planets and other bodies rarely go around in … Read more
The solar system holds many secrets that scientists are still trying to unravel. To help shed light on these mysteries, researchers are turning to space rocks of all kinds that may hold clues to the lost story of our solar system’s past. This approach is already bearing fruit: In October 2023, NASA’s OSIRIS REx mission … Read more
Scientists have spotted the brightest and fastest-growing quasar ever seen — a monster black hole that’s devouring a sun’s-worth of material every day. The brightly burning object, named J0529-4351, weighs between 17 billion and 19 billion solar masses and is located 12 billion light-years from Earth — meaning it dates to a time when the … Read more
Later this year, the European Space Agency (ESA) will launch the Proba-3 mission into orbit around Earth. This unique project’s twin spacecraft will align with each other to create frequent, artificial eclipses in space, which will give researchers near-unlimited access to studying the sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona, for the first time. An upcoming terrestrial … Read more
Some of the universe’s oldest black holes swoop past our cosmic neighborhood at least once every decade, moving planets in their wake, a new study suggests. And if scientists can detect them, it would provide the first proof that these black holes exist as dark matter. Black holes, regions of immense gravity that even trap … Read more
A roughly 3,000-year-old stone disk covered with enigmatic markings is actually an ancient celestial map marking the brightest stars in the night sky, researchers claim. The tire-size stone, which was discovered near an ancient hill fort in northeastern Italy a few years ago, features 29 carved markings on its front and back that may represent … Read more
