When it comes to extrasolar planets, appearances can be deceiving. Astronomers have imaged a new planet, and it appears nearly identical to one of the best studied gas-giant planets. But this ...

For a very long time, it was thought that the planets in our solar system represented the basic model of the universe. Rocky planets were found near the Sun, followed by gas giants further out from ...

The nearby star Vega holds a special place in human culture. Located just 25 light-years away, this shining beacon—about twice the mass of the sun and 40 times as bright—is so prominent in Earth’s ...

This artistic impression shows the collision of two planetesimals in the young, evolving planetary system of Fomalhaut. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has captured the dramatic aftermath of two violent ...

The infrared spectra of 2MASS 0249 c (top) and beta Pictoris b (bottom) are similar, as expected for two objects of comparable mass that formed in the same stellar nursery. Unlike 2MASS 0249 c, beta ...