https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. You might have seen an interesting phrase popping up in your social media feeds lately: "Chiron is in retrograde." If you're anything like me, you've never heard of Chiron before—and I'm a professional astronomer. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-mercury-chiron-retrograde.html Astronomy Fri, 08 Aug 2025 09:50:03 EDT news673865401 What processes during the formation of Pluto's largest moon, Charon, potentially led to it having cryovolcanism, and even an internal ocean? This is what a recent study presented at the 56th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC 2025) hopes to address as a team of researchers investigated the formation and evolution of Charon to ascertain whether it once possessed an internal ocean during its history and if this could have led to cryovolcanism based on images obtained by NASA's New Horizons probe. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-cryovolcanism-resurfacing-pluto-largest-moon.html Planetary Sciences Fri, 27 Jun 2025 11:26:52 EDT news670242410 For centuries, astronomers have sought to understand the formation and evolution of the solar system and the dynamics that govern it. In particular, there is the long-standing question of whether or not the planets' orbits will remain stable over time. However, these studies have generally treated the solar system as an isolated system, focusing solely on the gravitational interactions between the planets. This is in spite of the fact that astronomers have known for some time that stars in the Milky Way make close passes to each other every so often. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-stars-significant-impact-future-solar.html Astronomy Mon, 02 Jun 2025 15:24:04 EDT news668096642 The mystery of how Pluto got a giant heart-shaped feature on its surface has finally been solved by an international team of astrophysicists led by the University of Bern and members of the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS. The team is the first to successfully reproduce the unusual shape with numerical simulations, attributing it to a giant and slow oblique-angle impact. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-astrophysicists-mystery-heart-feature-surface.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 15 Apr 2024 11:52:25 EDT news632400739 The Kuiper Belt, the vast region at the edge of our solar system populated by countless icy objects, is a treasure trove of scientific discoveries. The detection and characterization of Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs), sometimes referred to as Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs), has led to a new understanding of the history of the solar system. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-jwst-kuiper-belt-sedna-gonggong.html Astronomy Mon, 16 Oct 2023 13:37:04 EDT news616682221 Impact cratering happens on every solid body in the solar system. In fact, it is the dominant process affecting the surfaces on most extraterrestrial bodies today. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-incredible-craters-fall-grandeur-solar.html Astronomy Mon, 05 Jun 2023 14:08:04 EDT news605192882 Scientists have discovered a new ring system around a dwarf planet on the edge of the solar system. The ring system orbits much further out than is typical for other ring systems, calling into question current theories of how ring systems are formed. https://phys.org/news/2023-02-solar.html Astronomy Wed, 08 Feb 2023 11:00:03 EST news595070692 Object 90377 Sedna—a distant trans-Neptunian object known best for its highly elliptical, 11,390-year long orbit—is currently on its way toward perihelion (its closest approach to the sun) in 2076. After that, Sedna will swing out into deep space again and won't be back for millennia, making this flyby a once-in-a-lifetime (or, once in ~113 lifetimes) opportunity to study an object from the far reaches of our solar system. There are no missions to Sedna in the works just yet, but astronomers are beginning to plan for the possibility, and the ideal launch date for such a mission is approaching fast, with two of the best launch windows coming up in 2029 and 2034. https://phys.org/news/2022-01-year-mission-sedna.html Space Exploration Wed, 05 Jan 2022 07:13:21 EST news560589198 Beyond the orbit of Neptune, a diverse collection of thousands of dwarf planets and other relatively small objects dwells in a region called the Kuiper Belt. These often-pristine leftovers from our solar system's days of planet formation are called Kuiper Belt objects, or trans-Neptunian objects. NASA's upcoming James Webb Space Telescope will examine an assortment of these icy bodies in a series of programs called Guaranteed Time Observations shortly after its launch in 2021. The goal is to learn more about how our solar system formed. https://phys.org/news/2020-10-nasa-webb-graveyard-solar.html Astronomy Thu, 29 Oct 2020 09:04:08 EDT news523181045 More than 230 years ago astronomer William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus and two of its moons. Using the Herschel Space Observatory, a group of astronomers led by Örs H. Detre of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy now has succeeded in determining physical properties of the five main moons of Uranus. The measured infrared radiation, which is generated by the Sun heating their surfaces, suggests that these moons resemble dwarf planets like Pluto. The team developed a new analysis technique that extracted the faint signals from the moons next to Uranus, which is more than a thousand times brighter. The study was published today in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-uranian-moons.html Astronomy Mon, 14 Sep 2020 09:50:52 EDT news519295849 Discovered in 2004, Haumea is a dwarf planet located beyond Pluto's orbit in a region of the solar system called the Kuiper Belt. Pluto was demoted from the category of fully fledged planets in 2006 because of the discovery of Haumea and other dwarf planets. https://phys.org/news/2019-05-scientists-dwarf-planet.html Astronomy Wed, 08 May 2019 07:39:46 EDT news476519975 Forget those shepherding moons. Gravity and the odd shapes of asteroid Chariklo and dwarf planet Haumea—small objects deep in our solar system—can be credited for forming and maintaining their own rings, according new research in Nature Astronomy. https://phys.org/news/2018-11-odd-bodies-rapid-cosmic.html Astronomy Mon, 19 Nov 2018 12:27:54 EST news461852867 A Southwest Research Institute team using internal research funds has made several discoveries that expand the range and value of a future Pluto orbiter mission. The breakthroughs define a fuel-saving orbital tour and demonstrate that an orbiter can continue exploration in the Kuiper Belt after surveying Pluto. These and other results from the study will be reported this week at a workshop on future Pluto and Kuiper Belt exploration at the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences meeting in Knoxville, Tennessee. https://phys.org/news/2018-10-team-breakthroughs-pluto-orbiter-mission.html Space Exploration Wed, 24 Oct 2018 16:28:33 EDT news459617303 Move over Saturn! Scientists have found a ring around an unassuming mini-planet in our Solar System to debunk the theory that only giant planets can be so adorned. https://phys.org/news/2017-10-dwarf-planet.html Astronomy Wed, 11 Oct 2017 14:16:17 EDT news426950136 Pluto's status as a "dwarf planet" is once again stirring debate. This comes as some planetary scientists are trying to have Pluto reclassified as a planet – a wish that's not likely to come true. https://phys.org/news/2017-03-planet-dwarf-planetall-worlds-worth.html Space Exploration Mon, 20 Mar 2017 07:29:18 EDT news409213748 In 2006, during their 26th General Assembly, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) adopted a formal definition of the term "planet". This was done in the hopes of dispelling ambiguity over which bodies should be designated as "planets", an issue that had plagued astronomers ever since they discovered objects beyond the orbit of Neptune that were comparable in size to Pluto. https://phys.org/news/2017-02-geophysical-planet-definition.html Space Exploration Wed, 22 Feb 2017 08:54:24 EST news406976055 Thanks to scientists on the Dark Energy Survey (DES), the solar system just got another member. https://phys.org/news/2016-12-dark-energy-survey-potential-dwarf.html Astronomy Tue, 13 Dec 2016 08:53:14 EST news400841584 Haumea, a dwarf planet on the edge of our solar system doesn't have the same kind of moons as its well-known cousin Pluto according to a new study. This is despite original evidence that suggested they both formed in similar giant impacts and adds to the mystery shrouding how these icy bodies formed.  https://phys.org/news/2016-05-dwarf-planet-haumea-lunar-smaller.html Space Exploration Mon, 16 May 2016 17:42:08 EDT news382639296 Dwarf planets tend to be a mysterious bunch. With the exception of Ceres, which resides in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, all members of this class of minor planets in our solar system lurk in the depths beyond Neptune. They are far from Earth - small and cold - which makes them difficult to observe, even with large telescopes. So it's little wonder astronomers only discovered most of them in the past decade or so. https://phys.org/news/2016-05-or10-largest-unnamed-dwarf-planet.html Space Exploration Thu, 12 May 2016 06:05:49 EDT news382251939 As highly social animals – like human beings – elephants rely on their bonds to navigate everyday life. Group living helps elephants with the difficult decisions that they make on a regular basis – what to eat, where to go when the water dries up, how to parent. https://phys.org/news/2015-12-elephants-retain-social-bonds-poaching.html Ecology Fri, 18 Dec 2015 06:30:02 EST news369627367 Over the course of the past decade, more and more objects have been discovered within the trans-Neptunian region. With every new find, we have learned more about the history of our solar system and the mysteries it holds. At the same time, these finds have forced astronomers to reexamine astronomical conventions that have been in place for decades. https://phys.org/news/2015-09-dwarf-planet-or10.html Space Exploration Thu, 03 Sep 2015 08:50:01 EDT news360487966 The vast Kuiper Belt, which orbits at the outer edge of our solar system, has been the site of many exciting discoveries in the past decade or so. Otherwise known as the Trans-Neptunian region, small bodies have been discovered here that have confounded our notions of what constitutes a planet and thrown our entire classification system for a loop. Of these, the most famous (and controversial) discovery was undoubtedly Eris. https://phys.org/news/2015-08-dwarf-planet-quaoar.html Space Exploration Fri, 28 Aug 2015 09:30:02 EDT news359972099 The term dwarf planet has been tossed around a lot in recent years. As part of a three-way categorization of bodies orbiting the sun, the term was adopted in 2006 due to the discovery of objects beyond the orbit of Neptune that were comparable in size to Pluto. Since then, it has come to be used to describe many objects in our solar system, upending the old classification system that claimed there were nine planets. https://phys.org/news/2015-08-dwarf-planet.html Space Exploration Tue, 18 Aug 2015 08:30:41 EDT news359105429 The Trans-Neptunian region has become a veritable treasure trove of discoveries in recent years. Since 2003, the dwarf planets and "plutoids" of Eris, Sedna, Makemake, Quaoar, and Orcus were all observed beyond the orbit of Pluto. And in between all of these, Haumea – that odd, oblong-shaped dwarf planet that has its own system of moons – was also discovered. https://phys.org/news/2015-08-dwarf-planet-haumea.html Space Exploration Fri, 14 Aug 2015 09:10:02 EDT news358758182 Ask a person what Dysnomia refers to, and they might venture that it's a medical condition. In truth, they would be correct. But in addition to being a condition that affects the memory (where people have a hard time remembering words and names), it is also the only known moon of the distant dwarf planet Eris. https://phys.org/news/2015-07-eris-moon-dysnomia.html Space Exploration Wed, 29 Jul 2015 09:30:01 EDT news357378847 With astronomers discovering new planets and other celestial objects all the time, you may be wondering what the newest planet to be discovered is. Well, that depends on your frame of reference. If we are talking about our Solar System, then the answer used to be Pluto, which was discovered by the American astronomer Clyde William Tombaugh in 1930. https://phys.org/news/2015-07-planet.html Space Exploration Tue, 07 Jul 2015 09:40:02 EDT news355477132 Dr. Mike Brown is a professor of planetary astronomy at Caltech. He's best known as the man who killed Pluto, thanks to his team's discovery of Eris and other Kuiper Belt Objects. We asked him to help us explain this unusual region of our solar system. https://phys.org/news/2015-06-kuiper-belt.html Space Exploration Wed, 17 Jun 2015 09:10:04 EDT news353749610 Only around 60 million kilometres closer to the Sun than Ceres, another large rock is orbiting in the remote asteroid belt: Vesta. Although its diameter of approximately 530 kilometres makes it a bit too small to be counted as a dwarf planet, it is nevertheless big enough to be the second heaviest and third largest body in this region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Ceres' little sister has already gone through what is in store for the asteroid in the coming months: As the first destination of the US Dawn mission, the spacecraft's three onboard measuring instruments subjected Vesta to more than a year of permanent monitoring from July 2011 to September 2012. As it turned out: Vesta was originally well on its way to developing into a planet. https://phys.org/news/2015-04-vestaceres-sister.html Space Exploration Tue, 21 Apr 2015 06:23:50 EDT news348816219 A storm is brewing, a battle of words and a war of the worlds. The Earth is not at risk. It is mostly a civil dispute, but it has the potential to influence the path of careers. In 2014, a Harvard led debate was undertaken on the question: Is Pluto a planet. The impact of the definition of planet and everything else is far reaching – to the ends of the Universe. https://phys.org/news/2015-02-recipe-pluto-full-planethood.html Space Exploration Fri, 20 Feb 2015 08:30:01 EST news343640930 Some serious groundwork has been laid. Some amazing instruments are turning on. Some incredible destinations are in sight. If you ask us, 2015 is going to be an awesome year in science. https://phys.org/news/2015-01-year-science.html Other Mon, 05 Jan 2015 04:32:36 EST news339654747