NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has revealed a dusty star system being soaked with a "steamy rain" of water vapor.
DUPE picked by Neiako 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 9 months 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 11 months 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 1 year ago

An unusual star may have swallowed its stellar companion and burped out a planet-forming cloud as a result, a new study reports. The star, called BP Piscium, is surrounded by a thick disc of gas and dust from which it appears to be sucking up new material at a prodigious rate. picked by AutumnLotus 8 months ago

Probing a glowing bubble of gas and dust encircling a dying star, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope reveals a wealth of previously unseen structures. The object, called NGC 2371, is a planetary nebula, the glowing remains of a Sun-like star. The remnant star visible at the center of NGC 2371 is the super-hot core of the former red giant, now stripped of its outer layers. picked by AutumnLotus 7 months ago

By studying in great detail the 'ringing' of a planet-harbouring star, a team of astronomers using ESO's 3.6-m telescope have shown that it must have drifted away from the metal-rich Hyades cluster. This discovery has implications for theories of star and planet formation, and for the dynamics of our Milky Way. picked by AutumnLotus 6 months 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 1 year ago

Create your own system of planets. Change the direction and velocity of celestial bodies and keep them within your stars gravitational pull. Be sure to "select preset" at the top right & "set number of bodies" at bottom left. picked by ogri2003 1 year ago

Using observations from ESO's VLT, astronomers were able for the first time to reconstruct the site of a flare on a solar-like star located 150 light years away. The study of this young star, nicknamed 'Speedy Mic' because of its fast rotation, will help scientists better understand the youth of our Sun. picked by AutumnLotus 10 months 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 7 months 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 3 weeks 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 1 year 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 8 months ago

Theorists have what they think is a good handle on how rocky planets like Earth form. Leftovers of star formation collide, stick together and eventually form a ball of rock. However, the formation of gas giant planets is more mysterious. picked by AutumnLotus 10 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 10 months ago

Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope and W. M. Keck Observatory have found a lopsided debris disk around a young star known as HD 15115. As seen from Earth, the edge-on disk resembles a needle sticking out from the star. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

Wikisky is a draggable, zoomable, web-based star map. If you click on a star or other object, it brings upvall the information you could want on it, including recent articles and photos. That and much more. picked by 2manyusernames 2 years ago

Scientists have located the coldest brown dwarf star ever observed, an important "missing link" among these celestial bodies that are half-planet, half-star, according to a study released Thursday. picked by AutumnLotus 6 months ago

An Anglo-American team of astronomers have used the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to obtain the first direct optical images of the aftermath of a recent titanic explosion that took place in a star system 5,000 light years from Earth. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago