In a groundbreaking discovery, astronomers have identified an exoplanet unlike any other in our known universe. Dubbed “Cotton Candy” due to its ethereal appearance, this celestial body has left scientists baffled and intrigued. Located in t…
The James Webb Space Telescope has captured the first direct image of a distant exoplanet, a world beyond our Solar System. Webb has returned several pictures of the exoplanet HIP 65426 b, a gas giant six to twelve times the mass of Jupiter loca…
As Spring rolls around for everyone in the Northern Hemisphere, warmer weather also brings the chance to catch a glimpse at some awe-inspiring astronomy events from the comfort of your backyard. From meteor showers to planetary alignments, here’…
In January 1992, two cosmic objects forever changed our galaxy. For the first time, we had concrete evidence of extrasolar planets, or exoplanets, orbiting an alien star: two rocky worlds, whirling around a star 2,300 light-years away. Now, just…
A team of astronomers has identified a planet similar to Earth that may have lost some of its atmosphere two hundred thousand years ago due to a collision. Only 95 light-years away from Earth, MIT, National University of Ireland Galway, and Cambrid…
It turns out that Saturn isn’t the only married planet in the solar system. A European telescope has found a new dwarf planet right here at home, and it too has a ring. The largest object found to orbit our sun since Pluto was discovered in 1930…
The ring is so far from the dwarf planet's surface that its material should have coalesced into a moon. But somehow, it didn't. Top Image Credits: Dwarf planet Quaoar has a ring of material that defies the rules of physics. (Image credit: E…
Exoplanet WASP-12b does not seem like a good place to go for a visit. New research has found that most of the light that goes towards it does not come out again, making the gas giant pitch black. The planet, discovered in 2008, is just 1400 light- …
Four Jupiter-mass exoplanets dance around their parent star in a stunning new timelapse collected over a dozen years. The aim of the newly released video is to make the long orbits of these massive exoplanets more recognizable to a wide audience…
All of the planets of the solar system are visible together in the night sky right now, providing stargazers with a " spectacular " show to end the year. Over the next few days, it is possible to see Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and S…
The planet, known as " b Pictoris c ," is located roughly 63 light-years from Earth in the Beta Pictoris system. Using the additional brightness and dynamic mass data obtained from imaging it, they are aiming to narrow down how it arose. …
The search for planets in distant solar systems has taken one more step forward with the entrance of a new planet-detecting tool led by a Stanford physicist. The Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) has set a great standard for itself. The very first image s…
An international team of astronomers has captured some extremely rare photos of planetary systems forming hundreds of light-years away. While photos of " protoplanetary discs " have been seen before, the process has never been document…
The largest diamond in the cosmos is not found on Earth. In reality, it is a white dwarf star called BPM 37093 or V886 Centauri. An " extinct " or " dead " star is a white dwarf star. Diamond-shaped V886 Centauri floats in outer…
The James Webb Space Telescope has captured the first direct image of a distant exoplanet, a world beyond our Solar System. Webb has returned several pictures of the exoplanet HIP 65426 b, a gas giant six to twelve times the mass of Jupiter loca…
