Dartboard or Doughnut? Iron Meteorites Reveal Shape of Our Infant Solar System
Fragments from the early cosmos help unravel the mystery of our solar system’s birth. Iron meteorites are remnants of the metallic cores of the earliest…
Solar System News
The Solar System consists of the Sun and all the objects that orbit it, including planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and meteoroids. It formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago from the gravitational collapse of a region within a large molecular cloud most commonly known for its composition of gas and dust. The Sun, a G-type main-sequence star, is at the center and contains almost all the system’s mass, with its gravitational pull holding everything from the giant planets to tiny debris in orbit around it. The eight planets, in order of their distance from the Sun, are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The Solar System is located in the Milky Way galaxy and is part of the Local Interstellar Cloud. Its extensive array of celestial bodies and phenomena provides critical clues about the formation and evolution of planets and systems beyond our own, making it a fundamental focus of study in astronomy and planetary science.
When Giants Moved: Tracing Planetary Shifts That Formed the Moon
Researchers from the University of Leicester have linked the shift of the Solar System’s giant planets 60-100 million years after its formation to the creation…
New “Space Snowman” Discovery Shakes Up Solar System Theories
A recent study exploring the development of comets suggests that objects in deep space, such as the Kuiper Belt Object 486958 Arrokoth, might act as…
Cosmic Building Blocks of Life Discovered – Scientists Perform First Chemical-Free Analysis of Extraterrestrial Amino Acids in Winchcombe Meteorite
A research team has analyzed extraterrestrial amino acids and other organic compounds in an English meteorite fall for the first time without using any chemical…
Far Beyond Pluto: NASA’s New Horizons To Continue Exploring Outer Solar System
NASA has announced the continuation of the New Horizons mission, focusing on collecting unique heliophysics data starting in 2025. New Horizons’ mission of exploration of…
Modified Newtonian Dynamics: Is the Ninth Planet Hunt Revealing a New Law of Gravity?
Outer reaches of solar system could harbor another planet—or evidence modifying laws of gravity. A pair of theoretical physicists are reporting that the same observations…
Birth of Our Planet: Caltech Uncovers New Details of Earth’s Formation
A new study from Caltech suggests the early Earth formed from hot, dry materials, implying water arrived late in Earth’s formation. The research, offering clues…
Where Did Earth’s Water Come From?
Newly discovered exoplanets contribute to the development of a novel model that offers potential explanations for the origin of some of Earth’s signature features, such…
Saturn’s Strange Ring-Heat Phenomenon: Solving a Solar System Mystery
A Rain of Icy Particles Is Affecting the Giant Planet’s Weather The planet Saturn is easily recognizable for its opulent ring system that can easily…
The Far-Flung Origin of Life’s Building Blocks: Researchers Uncover “Completely Unexpected” Findings
Imperial College London researchers have discovered the probable distant origin of Earth’s volatile chemicals, some of which form the building blocks of life, through the…
Astonishing Discovery Reveals Water in Our Solar System May Have Originated Billions of Years Before the Sun
ALMA Traces History of Water in Planet Formation Back to the Interstellar Medium Observations of water in the disk forming around protostar V883 Ori have…
Astronomers Discover Missing Link: Water on Earth Is Even Older Than Our Sun
Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers have detected gaseous water in the planet-forming disc around the star V883 Orionis. This water carries a…
Astrophysicist Reveals Planet That Could End Life on Earth
Experiment demonstrates our solar system’s fragility. A terrestrial planet hovering between Mars and Jupiter would be able to push Earth out of the solar system…
Earthly Applications of Cosmic Dust: Unveiling the Secrets of Interstellar Dust Grains
Gaining insight into the formation of dust grains in interstellar gas could provide astronomers with valuable knowledge and assist materials scientists in creating useful nanoparticles….
How Was the Solar System Formed? An Ancient Asteroid Is Helping Us Learn
UCLA scientists have uncovered that minerals found on the asteroid were formed as a result of interactions with water over 4.5 billion years ago. Mineral…
Unraveling the Origins of the Building Blocks of Life: The Role of Interstellar Clouds
The researchers replicated the conditions of an interstellar cloud and an asteroid to gain a deeper understanding of how carbonaceous chondrites acquired amino acids. A…
Space Mystery: Unexpected New Ring System Discovered in Our Own Solar System
ESA’s Cheops finds an unexpected ring around dwarf planet Quaoar During a break from looking at planets around other stars, the European Space Agency’s CHaracterising…
Isotope Analysis of Primitive Meteorites Reveals Solar System Formed From “Poorly Mixed Cake Batter”
New work reveals Earth’s potassium arrived by meteoritic delivery service. Earth’s potassium arrived by meteoritic delivery service finds new research led by Carnegie’s Nicole Nie…