An international team of astronomers has discovered a distant planetary system that challenges long-standing theories of how planets form. Across our galaxy, astronomers routinely observe a ...

For the first time, astronomers have successfully observed a planet in the midst of its formation, a groundbreaking achievement that provides invaluable insights into the processes that shape ...

New radio astronomy observations of a planetary system in the process of forming show that once the first planets form close to the central star, these planets can help shepherd the material to form ...

Dr. Jane Huang's research on planet formation in harsh environments, particularly within the Sigma Orionis cluster, offers surprising insights into the universality of planet formation. In a recent ...

The long-standing idea of planets forming in perfectly flat, orderly discs has been challenged by new research. Instead of calm, pancake-shaped structures of dust and gas, astronomers have now ...

A "domino effect" may occur in star systems whereby newly formed planets close to a star help shepherd dust and gas to create more planets farther out in the system. Astronomers using a mountain ...

For life to develop on a planet, certain chemical elements are needed in sufficient quantities. Phosphorus and nitrogen are essential. Phosphorus is vital for the formation of DNA and RNA, which store ...

Image of the young nearby 2MASS1612 system (also known as: RIK113) taken with the ESO Very Large Telescope in Chile. The image uses near infrared light that was scattered of the dust particles ...

Hit-and-run collisions between embryonic planets during a critical period in the early history of the Solar System may account for some previously unexplained properties of planets, asteroids, and ...

How are the most common types of planets made? This is what a recent study published in Nature hopes to address as a team of scientists investigated the intricate processes responsible for the most ...

Even under intense ultraviolet radiation from giant stars, the raw ingredients for planets can endure. Using Webb s powerful infrared eyes, astronomers examined a young star in the Lobster Nebula and ...

Compared to the previous observations (left), the new ALMA observations (right) at longer wavelengths can better see into the dust ring and reveal a concentration of dust to the north-west (upper ...