Planetary Formation
The Origin of Exoplanets
[/caption] We truly live in an amazing time for exoplanet research. It was only 18 years ago the first planet…
Tight Binaries are ‘Death Stars’ for Planets
[/caption] Astronomers studying double star systems where the two stars are extremely close have found a pattern of destruction. While…
Astronomers Zoom in on Solar Systems in the Making
[/caption] For the first time, astronomers have observed in unprecedented detail the processes giving rise to stars and planets in…
Wild and Crazy Multi-Planetary System Surprises Astronomers
[/caption] Astronomers are finding that not only are there a wide range of different extrasolar planets, but there are different…
Astronomy Without A Telescope – The Nice Way To Build A Solar System
When considering how the solar system formed, there are a number of problems with the idea of planets just blobbing…
Mysterious Alien Dust Hints at Violent Planet Formation
An artist's rendition of colliding planets, the most likely explanation for the warm dust observed around HD 131488. Image credit:…
Planet Precursors May be Sized Like Trucks, Not Towns
[/caption] A typical model has planets forming from collisions of material swirling around stars. But new laboratory experiments indicate the…
History of Iron Yields New Insight Into Earth’s Deepest Reaches
[/caption] Earth may have given up its innermost secrets to a pair of California geochemists, who have used extensive computer…
Planet-Forming Disk Discovered Orbiting Binary System
[/caption] Science fiction is lousy with examples of planets that orbit a system of two suns. Tatooine, in the Star…
Plutoid Eris is Changing… But We Don’t Know Why
[/caption]Eris, the largest dwarf planet beyond Neptune, is currently at its furthest point in its orbit from the Sun (an…