Across the galaxy, astronomers now see that planetary systems fall into four broad classes, and our own solar system, part of the rare Ordered group, is only one of them. At the same time, discoveries ...

Earth may owe some of its properties to a nearby star that blew up just as the solar system was forming. This pattern, which saw a supernova bubble envelop the sun and shower it with cosmic rays, may ...

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The Milky Way has a dark blob, known as Barnard 68 (B68), which is a Bok globule around 500 light ...

In the bigger picture, "down" could be defined as being below the plane of the solar system, which is known as the ecliptic. By convention, we say that above the plane is where the planets are seen to ...

The universe is always moving. While we've found evidence of rogue black holes and planets, new research suggests that a passing star could be out there somewhere. Unfortunately, If it were to swing ...

What is the actual speed and direction of our solar system as it moves through the cosmos, and how does this compare to longstanding cosmology models? This is what a recent study published in Physical ...

Scientists have discovered a massive molecular cloud close to the solar system. As big as 40 full moons as seen from Earth, the vast structure — which poses no threat — is composed primarily of ...

The discovery that helium and iron can mix at the temperatures and pressures found at the center of Earth could settle a long-standing debate over how our planet formed. When you purchase through ...

Our solar system passed through a vast wave of gas and dust around 14 million years ago, dimming Earth’s view of the night sky. The wave may even have left traces in our planet’s geological record.

There’s a bit of a paradox about our galaxy: it’s both jam-packed with stars and cavernously empty. The Milky Way is crowded in the sense that it holds hundreds of billions of stars, as well as ...

Space looks very dark from Earth. But does the solar system, and the universe for that matter, have an area that's the darkest of all? When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an ...