The boundary of a solar system is not defined by planets, but by gravity. Beyond Pluto and the Kuiper Belt lies the Oort ...

Ever wondered how planetary systems like our own solar system form? Thanks to the European Space Agency's Gaia space ...

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: ALMA(ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/M. McClure et al. Astronomers have witnessed the birth of a planetary ...

Across the Milky Way and beyond, planetary systems appear to fall into a few recurring blueprints, and recent exoplanet ...

The giant planets weren't always where we find them today. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune formed in a more compact configuration and later underwent a violent reshuffling that scattered them to ...

Artist impression of the four classes of planetary system architecture. A new architecture framework allows researchers to study an entire planetary system at the systems level. If the small planets ...

This artist’s concept depicts one of the solar system’s inner planets slamming into Earth after being nudged on a collision course by a passing star. Such a world-shattering cataclysm is extremely ...

Mercury has long baffled astronomers because it defies much of what we know about planet formation. A new space mission ...

Could the icy moons of our solar system hold life beyond our planet? Keith Cooper looks at how planetary scientists plan to ...

The solar system is 4.54 billion years old, based on rock dating. Gas giants (Jupiter and Saturn) likely formed first. Ice giants (Uranus and Neptune) probably formed next. Rocky planets formed last, ...

Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system, known for its massive size, strong gravity, powerful storms and many moons ...