Long before astronomers discovered the first exoplanet in 1992, the idea of worlds orbiting distant stars captivated the minds of academics and dreamers alike. As far back as the 16th century, ...

Why a tilted orbit is such a big deal When I talk to planetary scientists about what makes a system “weird,” the conversation usually starts with geometry. In our solar system, the major planets orbit ...

Astronomers have captured some of the most detailed images of debris discs—rings of leftover dust, gas, and rocks that circle a star—from fully formed, "teenage" planetary systems. And those images, ...

In a zesty new discovery, scientists have unearthed a strange lemon-shaped exoplanet. It is unlike one we have seen before, challenging many of the previously held assumptions about planetary ...

This ARKS gallery of faint debris disks reveals details about their shape: belts with multiple rings, wide smooth halos, sharp edges, and unexpected arcs and clumps, which hint at the presence of ...