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

An image released today of a distant star and its potential planetary companion could go down in history as the first picture of a planet outside our solar system orbiting a sunlike star. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year 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

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

For the first time, astronomers have observed the initial phase in the formation of an earth-like planet. What astronomers observed was that a protoplanetary disk, or ring, around the binary star known as KH 15D, is composed of solid particles larger than what is usually observed in space. 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

Leading astronomers declared Thursday that Pluto is no longer a planet under historic new guidelines that downsize the solar system from nine planets to eight. picked by jaxomlotus 3 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 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

A planet orbiting a red dwarf star 20 light years away could be the first known water world, entirely covered by a deep ocean. picked by suebe 7 months ago

Organic molecules – in the form of methane – have been detected on a planet outside our solar system for the first time. The giant planet lies too close to its parent star for the methane to signal life, but the detection offers hope that astronomers will one day be able to analyse the atmospheres of Earth-like worlds. picked by AutumnLotus 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

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

NASA's Phoenix lander may have captured the first images of liquid water on Mars - droplets that apparently splashed onto the spacecraft's leg during landing, according to some members of the Phoenix team. picked by AutumnLotus 9 months ago

The first habitable earth-like planet outside the solar system has been discovered. picked by suebe 3 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

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 12 months 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

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

One of the largest objects in the Kuiper Belt, a ring of icy bodies beyond Neptune, has finally gotten a name: Makemake, after a god in the culture of Easter Island. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago