Weird planet is orbiting backwards between two stars
21 May 2025
After two decades of debate, research confirms that an odd binary star system has an equally odd planetary companion
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Found 677 results for dwarf planet
Risk of a star destroying the solar system is higher than expected
16 May 2025
Stars that pass close to the solar system could pull planets out of alignment, sending them hurtling into the sun or out into space
Claims of alien life are overhyped – and miss the real accomplishment
18 April 2025
Whenever there’s even a slight chance that an exoplanet shows signs of biological activity, people understandably get excited – but it’s never been aliens, and we shouldn’t jump to conclusions, not this time or the next, says Chris Lintott
Exoplanet found in odd perpendicular orbit to brown dwarf star pair
16 April 2025
It is rare to find brown dwarf stars orbiting in pairs, and this pair has an even more unusual exoplanet companion
How to spot Haumea, one of the solar system's strangest objects
9 April 2025
Pluto isn’t the only dwarf planet in our solar system's outer reaches. Now is an ideal time to look for the egg-shaped Haumea, says Abigail Beall
How meteorites are rewriting the history of the solar system
10 February 2025
There are many theories about how dynamics in the early solar system led to the cosmic neighbourhood we now inhabit, but beyond computer simulations, direct evidence to support them is hard to come by – that's where meteorites come in
Has a volcanic eruption ever wiped out a species of hominins?
13 January 2025
Volcanoes have been proposed as the reason for the extinction of the Neanderthals and the hobbits of Indonesia, but the end of those species may not have come from a single, dramatic event
Pluto may have captured its moon Charon with a brief kiss
6 January 2025
Simulations suggest Pluto and its largest moon may have gently stuck together for a few hours before Charon settled into a stable orbit around the dwarf planet
Exoplanet plate tectonics: A new frontier in the hunt for alien life
2 December 2024
Plate tectonics seems to be crucial for life on Earth, but we’ve never confirmed that it happens on other worlds - that may be about to change
Planet 10 times the size of Earth is one of the youngest ever found
20 November 2024
A large planet has been spotted orbiting a dwarf star that is just 3 million years old, offering possible clues to how the worlds in our solar system came into being
