In our solar system, everything seems to be in order: The smaller rocky planets, such as Venus, Earth or Mars, orbit relatively close to our star. The large gas and ice giants, such as Jupiter, Saturn ...

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 ...

Scientists have grappled for centuries over the composition of the universe. From its infinite size to the search for intelligent life on planets beyond our own, a variety of questions keep humans up ...

Washington DC — New theoretical work shows that gas-giant planet formation can occur around binary stars in much the same way that it occurs around single stars like the Sun. The work is presented ...

Stellar astronomy and planetary systems form a cornerstone of astrophysical research, uniting our understanding of the life cycles of stars with the intricate architecture of the systems that form ...

Artist impression of the four classes of planetary system architecture. A new architecture framework allows researchers to study an entire planetary system at the systems level. If the small planets ...

Astronomers have long been aware that planetary systems are not necessarily structured like our solar system. Researchers have now shown that there are in fact four types of planetary systems. In our ...

NASA’s Kepler Mission, launched in 2009, revolutionized the field of exoplanet science. It provided a vast amount of information about planets orbiting stars other than the Sun and the planetary ...