As Earthlings, most of us don’t spend a lot of extra time thinking about the gravity on our home planet. Instead, we go about our days only occasionally dropping things or tripping over furniture but ...
How do you explore the interior of a planet without ever touching down on it? Start by watching the way the planet spins, then measure how your spacecraft orbits it — very, very carefully. This is ...
Want life? Don't get too close to a gas giant planet. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Like huge playground bullies, planets like ...
Every few thousand years, an unlucky star wanders too close to the black hole at the center of the Milky Way. The black hole’s powerful gravity rips the star apart, sending a long streamer of gas ...
Scientists have discovered over 4,000 exoplanets outside of our Solar System, according to NASA’s Exoplanet Archive. Some of these planets orbit multiple stars at the same time. Certain planets are so ...
A theory developed to replace dark matter may mean bad news for Planet Nine, a hypothetical as-yet-unseen world in the outer solar system. The odd orbital alignments of icy objects in this region that ...
In 1906, astronomer and businessman Percival Lowell launched a search for "Planet X," a hypothetical giant planet orbiting the sun beyond Neptune. Lowell was convinced that Planet X existed based on ...
Gravity is the unseen force that shapes the universe, yet we rarely give it much thought. First explained by Sir Isaac Newton, it is the pull that draws objects toward one another based on their mass ...
Discover which planet is the fastest in the solar system. Learn why Mercury moves at 47 km/s, has the shortest year, and ...