In the vast calm of the solar system, planetary orbits often appear orderly, stable, and insulated from the broader mechanics of the galaxy. Earth circles the Sun with regularity. The outer planets ...

A new study has challenged a popular explanation for the unexpected 30-second shortening of Dimorphos's orbital period. The researchers found that the proposed mechanism would actually produce the ...

AMES, Iowa – Using data from NASA’s Kepler space telescope, an international team of astronomers has discovered a distant planetary system featuring multiple planets orbiting at a severe tilt to their ...

Astronomers have spotted centimeter-sized “pebbles” swirling around two infant stars 450 light-years away, revealing the raw ingredients of planets already stretching to Neptune-like orbits. Using the ...

Southwest Research Institute scientists propose a new model for the formation of compact exoplanetary systems that contain multiple rocky planets in tight orbits around their star. In this model, ...

In theory, it could happen – one of the very first solutions to the three-body problem was this scenario. But it is very unlikely to be stable over time. You need the stars to have near equal mass and ...