Only in the state of Illinois, but Pluto has been declared a planet once again - igniting a fresh round of debate over the status of the "planet" (and debate over whether there is a debate). picked by amabaie 9 months ago

Planet-seekers who have spotted 28 new planets orbiting other stars in the past year say Earth's solar system is far from unique and there could be billions of habitable planets. picked by AutumnLotus 3 years ago

Enter your age and discover your age on other planets in our solar system. (Good link on here for building a scaled solar system too). Not completely updated: Pluto still a planet on this site. picked by ogri2003 2 years ago

Astronomers may have discovered the first planet in another galaxy — thought to be six or seven times the size of Jupiter.
In order to find the celestial body, located more than two million light years away, the astronomers used a method called gravitational microlensing. picked by bingo 6 months ago

New images of Pluto and its moons are among the sharpest ever made, astronomers announced today. Pluto, long called a planet, was downgraded last year to "dwarf planet" status by the International Astronomical Union. It is so far away that no clear pictures of it exist. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

"Astronomers on Wednesday announced they had spotted the first planet beyond the Solar System that has water, the precious ingredient for life." picked by deepchill 2 years ago

Astronomers have announced the discovery of a fifth planet circling 55 Cancri, a star beyond our solar system. The star now holds the record for number of confirmed extrasolar planets orbiting in a planetary system. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Calculations published on Thursday show the distant world that astronomers no longer deem a planet is not even the largest of our solar system's so-called dwarf planets -- it is smaller than recently discovered dwarf planet Eris. picked by DrNothing 2 years ago

Planets may be present in a quadruple star system 150 light years from Earth, according to Spitzer Space Telescope observations. The system, called HD 98800, consists of two pairs of stars in which the partners in each pair orbit one another closely. The pairs themselves travel around each other on a very elongated path. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Astronomers said Wednesday that they had found a miniature version of our own solar system 5,000 light-years across the galaxy — the first planetary system that really looks like our own, with outer giant planets and room for smaller inner planets.

They also found signs of Elvis and Amelia Earhart. picked by mahler87 2 years ago

It is the rare gas giant planet that inhabits the outskirts of its solar system. Most are like our own Jupiter and prefer to stick close to their stars, a new study suggests. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Astronomers, including one at The University of Arizona, have successfully predicted the existence of an unknown planet, the first since Neptune was predicted in the 1840s. This planet, however, is outside our own solar system, circling a star a little more than 200 light years from Earth. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Astronomers have discovered a planet, WASP-17, that is twice the size of Jupiter. That makes it the largest planet ever discovered. Unlike other planets, it orbits opposite to its star’s direction.
But why is WASP-17 so big? The discovery suggests that have been subjected to intense tides as it traveled in its strange orbit, causing it to become stretched and bloated. picked by Bingo 4 months ago

Astronomers have discovered the first known planet to survive its "red-giant" phase, a period when an aging star expands and engulfs bodies orbiting it. The discovery of the gas-giant planet three times the size of Jupiter offers a look at the future of our own solar system and what will happen to the Earth when the sun grows old and collapses. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Water has been identified for the first time in the atmosphere of a planet outside the Solar System. picked by AutumnLotus 3 years ago

For the first time, astronomers think that they've found evidence of an alien solar system around a star close enough to Earth to be visible to the naked eye. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg have discovered the youngest known extrasolar planet. Its host star is still surrounded by the disk of gas and dust from which it was only recently born. This discovery allows scientists to draw important conclusions about the timing of planet formation. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Discovered on Dec. 28, 2004 (catalogued as 2003 EL61 and nicknamed "Santa" for a time), the minor planet now known as the dwarf planet Haumea, to honor its Hawaiian discovery, is as big across as Pluto and one-third of its mass, but shaped something "like a big squashed cigar." picked by AutumnLotus 5 months ago

Researchers have dated the earliest step in the formation of the solar system - when microscopic interstellar dust coalesced into mountain-sized chunks of rock - to 4,568 million years ago, within a range of about 2,080,000 years. The dates established by analyzing a particular type of meteorite, called a carbonaceous chondrite, which represents the oldest material left over from the formation of ... read full post picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

The fiery demise of a fifth rocky planet in our Solar System might have led to a flurry of asteroid impacts that pockmarked the Moon and Earth billions of years ago. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago