Astronomers using ALMA have uncovered how gas and dust in planet-forming disks evolve separately an insight that reshapes our understanding of how different types of planets form. While dust lingers, ...

Astronomers have long believed that “water worlds,” planets rich in water and ice, were among the most common in our universe. This view has shaped much of our understanding of planetary formation and ...

According to astronomers, water worlds, though admittedly not those containing Kevin Costner, are one of the most common types of planets in our solar system. This is partly due to low density ...

In the Star Wars movies fictional planets are covered with forests, oceans, deserts, and volcanoes. But new models from a team of MIT, NASA, and Carnegie scientists begin to describe an even wider ...

Studying the orbits of thousands of exoplanets shows that large planets tend to have elliptical orbits, while smaller planets tend to have more circular orbits. This split coincides with several other ...

Chris Lintott of Zooniverse shows ‘Stargazing Live’ hosts Brian Cox and Julia Zemiro the possible planets found so far by the Exoplanet Explorers project, using gumballs to represent different types ...