Ever wondered how planetary systems like our own solar system form? Thanks to the European Space Agency's Gaia space telescope, we're getting a unique peek behind the cosmic curtain into these dusty environments.
Astronomy
Dec 18, 2025
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New research from Rice University suggests that the giant planet Jupiter reshaped the early solar system in dramatic ways, carving out rings and gaps that ultimately explain one of the longest-standing puzzles in planetary ...
Planetary Sciences
Oct 22, 2025
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Our solar system is a smashing success. A new study suggests that from its earliest period—even before the last of its nebular gas had been consumed—Earth's solar system and its planets looked more like a bin of well-used ...
Planetary Sciences
Oct 1, 2025
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Approximately 4.6 billion years ago, our solar system formed from a huge disk of gas and dust orbiting our sun. The asteroids seen today are some of the most complete artifacts of this formation that are left to observe. ...
Astronomy
Aug 21, 2025
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A team led by astronomers at Leiden University in the Netherlands and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Virginia (U.S.) have, for the first time, robustly detected semi-heavy water ice around a young sunlike star. ...
Astronomy
Jun 16, 2025
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According to the most widely held astronomical model (the nebular hypothesis), new stars are born from massive clouds of dust and gas (aka a nebula) that experience gravitational collapse. The remaining dust and gas form ...
Astronomy
Jan 13, 2025
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Chondritic meteorites (chondrites) are some of the oldest rocks in our solar system, forming 4.5 billion years ago. Therefore, their primitive composition means that they offer a window into the origins of planet formation, ...
The source of Earth's water is an enduring mystery that extends to exoplanets and the notion of habitability. In broad terms, Earth's water was either part of the planet from the beginning of its formation in the solar nebula ...
Planetary Sciences
Oct 25, 2024
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