Evidence that rocky planets beyond Jupiter formed as rapidly, and at the same time, as the inner planets could transform our ...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Astronomers have discovered the earliest seeds of rocky planets forming in the gas around a baby sun-like star, providing a precious peek into the dawn of our own solar system.

Pluto and other large bodies in the Kuiper Belt are surprisingly rich in rock rather than ice. It may be because the early solar system consisted of much more carbon than previously thought, a new ...

For centuries, astronomers have sought to understand the formation and evolution of the solar system and the dynamics that govern it. In particular, there is the long-standing question of whether ...

The 4,096 by 4,096 sensor gives the AIA a resolution of 0.6 arcseconds per pixel, and the optics allow imaging out to almost 1.3 solar radii, to capture fine detail in the thin solar atmosphere.

However, if a stellar-mass or larger black hole were to whiz through our solar system, it could spell disaster, depending on how close and how fast it was.

For years, astronomers have been searching for a mysterious ninth planet lurking in the dark outer reaches of our solar system. Now, a team of researchers have taken a completely different ...

Voyager 2 was the first and remains the only spacecraft to fly past Uranus and Neptune, worlds where it discovered superfast winds, more than a dozen moons and six new rings, as well as Uranus’s ...

The Oort Cloud, an expanse of icy bodies in the far reaches of our solar system, is shown here in a scene from "Encounters in the Milky Way," a show at New York City's Hayden Planetarium that ...