Solar System
When did the Sun Blow Away the Solar Nebula?
The story of our solar system's origin is pretty well known. It goes like this: the Sun began as a…
It Would Take About 100 Billion Years for Another Star to Pass Close Enough to Make the Solar System Unstable
A new study by a team of Canadian researchers shows that our Solar System will not experience a close and…
This is What the Metal Asteroid Psyche Might Look Like
If you wanted to do a forensic study of the Solar System, you might head for the main asteroid belt…
The Early Solar System was Total Mayhem
There's no question that young solar systems are chaotic places. Cascading collisions defined our young Solar System as rocks, boulders,…
Did a 5th Giant Planet Mess up the Orbits of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune?
The solar system’s current planetary orbits seem stable, but that’s only because the planets have settled into them over billions…
Pluto’s Orbit is Surprisingly Close to an Unstable Zone
A new study has revealed new insights into Pluto's orbit, which is subject to a lot of chaotic perturbance over…
The Sun is Slowly Tearing This Comet Apart
Using ground-based and space-based observations, a team of researchers has been monitoring a difficult-to-see comet carefully. It's called Comet 323P/SOHO,…
Laser-Powered Sails Would be Great for Exploring the Solar System too
A new study from UCLA shows how laser-driven light sails could be a cost-effective method for exploring the Solar System…
The Moon’s Crust was Formed From a Frozen Slushy Magma
Scientists' detailed study of the Moon dates back to the Apollo missions when astronauts brought rock samples from the lunar…
Even Tiny Mimas Seems to Have an Internal Ocean of Liquid Water
Data from the Cassini mission keeps fuelling discoveries. The latest discovery is that Saturn's tiny moon Mimas may have an…