Not every large object in space forms part of a solar system. There are some big objects that exist in isolation in space, without either being a star or orbiting one. One of these, SIMP 0136, wanders ...

The giant planets weren't always where we find them today. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune formed in a more compact configuration and later underwent a violent reshuffling that scattered them to ...

With sapphire waterfalls, lava rain and orbits around dead stars, these distant worlds push the limits of what’s possible.

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Leslie Katz covers the intersection of culture, science and tech. A yellowish-orange glow bathes Phainoterra, a planet of dramatic ...

Researchers have found a candidate for the hypothetical Planet Nine, which could be an undiscovered giant planet way out in our solar system. However, as with all ninth planet research, the new ...

According to a report originally published by Eos and later featured on Space.com, researchers analysed data from NASA's ...

NASA’s ESCAPADE mission is being held up as a test case for a new era of cheaper planetary science, one where small ...

But that’s nothing compared with PSR J2322-2650b, an object the mass of Jupiter studied recently by the James Webb Space Telescope. This planet’s equatorial diameter is about 38 percent wider than its ...

A team of astronomers claims to have sniffed out a “biosignature” in the atmosphere of a distant planet called K2-18b. But not everyone agrees that it signals life. An illustration shows what ...

The results come from long-term Hubble observations of how each bright object quickly grew, became oval-shaped, and gradually ...

Using gravitational microlensing, scientists have discovered a rare, large planet at the edge of the Milky Way. The planet is only the third to be found on the outskirts of our galaxy's dense central ...