Rocky planets, such as Earth, are born when small particles smash together to form larger, planet-sized clusters in a disk, but researchers are less sure about how gas-giant planets form. Is core ...

For scientists who spend time thinking about how planets form, life would be simpler if gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn didn’t exist. According to the standard model of planet formation, called ...

A young, massive planet is orbiting in an unusual place in its star system, and it’s leading researchers to revive a long-debated view of how giant planets can form. “My first reaction was, there’s no ...

Astronomers who previously imaged three giant planets around a single star have once again hit the jackpot by finding a fourth large body in the star system. More massive than Jupiter, the newly ...

Astronomers weren’t around when the solar system formed, but ever-more-sophisticated computer simulations give them an opportunity to explore young planetary environments. In “How do you make a giant ...

A radical new theory has astronomers arguing over the origins of our solar system. If the theory is correct, then the sun, Earth and its fellow planets were born in a place that is far different from ...

There is an as-yet-unseen population of Jupiter-like planets orbiting nearby Sun-like stars, awaiting discovery by future missions like NASA's WFIRST space telescope, according to new models of gas ...

How did astronomers conclude that Jupiter was the first planet formed in our solar system? originally appeared on Quora: the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people ...

Rocky planets such as Earth and Mars are born when small particles smash together to form larger, planet-sized clusters in a planet-forming disk, but researchers are less sure about how gas-giant ...