A groundbreaking study published in Communications Earth & Environment has called into question the long-standing assumptions about how our solar system came to be. Tiny shavings from a meteorite ...

The formation of our solar system from a singular nebula raises an intriguing question: why did each planet develop with a distinct and very different composition? This diversity stems from a ...

In a cosmic first, scientists identified signs of early planet formation by looking deep into the gas disk around a baby star far outside our solar system. Astronomers have discovered the earliest ...

When most of us learn about the solar system, it seems like a pretty well-ordered place. Our sun formed first, about five billion years ago, and the planets appeared a little later. As a very general ...

ALMA(ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/M. McClure et al. Gear-obsessed editors choose every product we review. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. Why Trust Us? Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this ...

Illustration comparing the planets of the Solar System and the Sun on the same scale. The planets are shown to scale relative to each other but their distances are not. From left to right the bodies ...

Peering through a cosmic keyhole at distant baby star, astronomers may have opened a new window on the deep past of our own solar system. Weighing in at 0.6 solar mass, HOPS-315 should someday grow to ...

1 / 6 | Visual: In this diagram, J, S, U, and N are the solar system’s giant planets. What’s the collective name for the objects in blue?

The newborn planetary system appears to be emerging 1,300 light-years away around a baby star known as HOPS-315. Planet-forming materials were first identified using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.

The workings of our solar system are roughly the same now as they have been for millions of years. Moons circle their planets, the planets circle the sun, the sun’s magnetic fields and sunspots wax ...