Planet

Despite being the closest planet to the Sun, Mercury is home to a surprising amount of ice. Now, researchers at Georgia Tech have put forward an explanation for how at least some of it got there – and it turns out, the heat plays an important role.

Astronomers have analyzed the atmosphere of a large exoplanet and found that it could have liquid water – and so possibly life – on its surface. This new study adds weight to the idea that habitable exoplanets don’t have to be strictly Earth-sized.

In 2016, astronomers discovered a potentially habitable Earth-sized exoplanet just four light-years away – and new observations suggest it isn’t alone. A second planet may be orbiting Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun.

New evidence suggests that snow may be falling within the broiling hot core of planet Earth. Of course, this isn’t your everyday surface snow – these flakes would be made of iron, settling onto the solid inner core through the more fluid outer core.

ESA has successfully launched its Cheops telescope on a mission to make detailed follow-up studies of distant exoplanets discovered by earlier space-faring telescopes, such as Kepler and TESS.

Scientists have discovered a massive planet evaporating as it orbits the remains of a Sun-like star. This is the first time evidence of a huge planet orbiting a white dwarf has been observed, and it could help reveal the fate of our own solar system.

Every planet we know of orbits a star – but that might not be a universal rule. According to calculations by researchers at NAOJ, planets could technically form around supermassive black holes, creating vast planetary systems of thousands of worlds.

An unexpected discovery is challenging our accepted understanding of how planets form. Astronomers have spotted a gigantic gas planet orbiting a small red dwarf star, which shouldn’t be possible according to current models.

Astronomers from Columbia University have a new theory about what's dimming Tabby's Star – and no, it’s not an alien megastructure.

Hubble has captured a new portrait of the ringed planet Saturn while the gas giant was at its closest point to Earth in its orbit.

Water is crucial to life as we know it, so it’s one of the key things astronomers look out for on exoplanets. And now, water vapor has been detected in the atmosphere of a potentially habitable exoplanet for the first time.

Analysis of Saturn’s interior describes jet streams that continue deep below the surface and thick liquid that “flows like honey”.