Mercury has long baffled astronomers because it defies much of what we know about planet formation. A new space mission ...

The newly identified cluster of Kuiper Belt objects lies about 4 billion miles from the Sun, offering fresh clues about how ...

The search for life beyond Earth is a key driver of modern astronomy and planetary science. The U.S. is building multiple major telescopes and planetary probes to advance this search. However, the ...

The Sun's formation caused temperature differences in the surrounding disk of gas and dust. Inner, hotter regions formed rocky planets from less volatile elements. Outer, colder regions allowed ...

Roughly 1,000 light-years away from Earth, a gigantic disk of gas and dust is swirling around a young star and giving rise to ...

By tracking tiny stellar wobbles, astronomers have detected planets forming around young stars for the first time.

A new research paper, published in the Science Advances journal, has postulated that rocky planets like ours may be far more common than we previously believed. Previously, scientists had concurred ...

AROOSTOOK COUNTY, Maine (WAGM) - Aroostook County’s iconic Maine Solar System Model is about to get even bigger. Two new dwarf planet models are being added to the roadside attraction that has ...

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. The search for life beyond Earth is a key driver of ...