A leatherback turtle called Billie won the first Great Turtle Race from Costa Rica to the Galapagos Islands, swimming at a leisurely 5 to 6 kilometres per hour, organisers say. picked by AutumnLotus 3 years ago

The new definition, proposed this week by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), basically says every round object orbiting the sun is a planet, unless it orbits another planet. Asteroid Ceres will become a planet. Pluto's moon Charon will become a planet, things could get really strange. picked by Jaxomlotus 3 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 3 months ago

A gay boy wishes for a planet full of Unicorns. This is the story of that planet picked by dork 2 years 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 2 years 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

Three undergraduate students, from Leiden University in the Netherlands, have discovered an extrasolar planet. The extraordinary find, which turned up during their research project, is about five times as massive as Jupiter. This is also the first planet discovered orbiting a fast-rotating hot star. picked by AutumnLotus 11 months ago

The hottest planet ever discovered is charcoal black and makes even some stars seem cool. Scientists think the exoplanet absorbs nearly all the starlight that reaches its surface and then reradiates it back out into space as heat. picked by AutumnLotus 3 years ago

Classic sci-fi film cut down to half an hour and given the feel of a Twilight Zone episode. Why? Because of the involvement of Rod Serling in both - and the whopping great twist! picked by TheStep 3 years ago

Science fiction may soon become science fact. Astronomers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have recently concluded that the upcoming planet-finding mission, SIM PlanetQuest, would be able to detect an Earth-like planet around the star 40 Eridani, a planet familiar to "Star Trek" fans as "Vulcan." picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Staying married is better for the planet because divorce leads the newly single to live more wasteful lifestyles, an Australian lawmaker said Tuesday. picked by AutumnLotus 9 months ago

An international team of astronomers with the Trans-atlantic Exoplanet Survey announce today the discovery of TrES-4, a new extrasolar planet in the constellation of Hercules. The new planet was identified by astronomers looking for transiting planets – that is, planets that pass in front of their home star – using a network of small automated telescopes. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Astronomers with the Trans-atlantic Exoplanet Survey today announce the discovery of their third planet, TrES-3 in the constellation Hercules about 10 degrees west of Vega. The new planet was identified by astronomers looking for transiting planets — that is, planets that pass in front of their home star. 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 peered into the womb of a stellar disk to capture an image of material falling onto what could be a planet in an early stage of formation. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

A planet outside our solar system with a year roughly equal to Earth's has been discovered around a dying, red giant star. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Two rocks found together in Antarctica are chunks of a dwarf planet that was smashed apart early in the solar system's history, detailed studies suggest. Other remnants of the proto-world may still be floating around in the asteroid belt, and might be identifiable by the spectrum of the sunlight they reflect. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Astronomers have discovered what may be the smallest alien planet yet — a rocky ``SuperEarth'' only four times heavier than our home planet. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

A team of astronomers from Penn State and Nicolaus Copernicus University in Poland has discovered a new planet that is closely orbiting a red-giant star, HD 102272, which is much older than our own Sun. The planet has a mass that is nearly six times that of Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. picked by AutumnLotus 12 months 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 5 months ago