Solar system
The solar system is a gravitationally bound system of the sun and the orbiting objects around it. The Solar System formed 4.6 billion years ago from the gravitational collapse of a giant interstellar molecular cloud.
It is located in an outer spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy. There are eight planets with about 210 known planetary satellites, countless asteroids, comets, meteoroids, and other icy bodies.
The four inner system planets – Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars – are called terrestrial planets because of their rocky surfaces. The four giant planets of the outer system – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are substantially more massive than the terrestrials.
Explosions of universe’s first stars spewed powerful jets
After the Big Bang and before the first stars ignited, the universe was a very dark and cold place. There were no galaxies, no...
How was the moon formed? Mystery solved
The moon may have formed when the earth's magma was blasted into space.
Evidence on Mercury’s inner core is indeed solid
In order to explore the interior of a planet, planetary scientists usually observe the planet spins and then measure how their probe orbits it....
New Neptune-to-Saturn-size planet orbiting between two previously known planets
Astronomers have discovered a third planet in the Kepler-47 system, securing the system’s title as the most interesting of the binary-star worlds. Using data...
TESS discovered its first Earth-sized planet
NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) once again demonstrates with the discovery of its longest-period confirmed planet to date. The satellite has confirmed the...
Hubble spotted a mysterious dark spot on Neptune
Since it’s a discovery in the mid-19th century, Neptune has consistently been a planet of mystery. As the farthest planet from our Sun, Neptune-...
Solar system’s hidden Planet X may finally be spotted soon
Over the course of the past two decades, observational surveys have unveiled the intricate orbital structure of the Kuiper Belt, a field of icy...
Japanese astronomers spot new class of object in the Kuiper Belt
A team at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan has discovered a new class of object that has long been thought to exist in...
Scientists finally know what time it is on Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. This gas giant actually has no solid surface...
Early protostar already has a warped disk
The planets in our solar system orbit the sun in planes that are at most around seven degrees offset from the equator of the...
Astronomers discovered the most-distant solar system object
Astronomers have recently detected the most-distant body ever observed in our Solar System. The object has been given the provisional designation 2018 VG18. 2018 VG18, nicknamed "Farout"...
NASA’s InSight is one day away from Mars
InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is a Mars lander designed to give the Red Planet its first...