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 ...

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 ...

Astronomers have found new evidence that a mysterious ninth planet may be hiding at the edge of the solar system - rewriting what we know about the cosmos again. An international team from Taiwan, ...

Most astronomers would love to find a planet, but Mike Brown may be the only one proud of having killed one. Thanks to his research, Pluto, the solar system’s ninth planet, was removed from the ...

Astronomers may have demoted Pluto from full-fledged planet to dwarf status, but evidence suggests the solar system may still host a mysterious ninth planet — far beyond Neptune, cloaked in shadow and ...

The possibility that there might be a large, unknown planet lurking in the outer Solar System far beyond Pluto has long been a staple of science fiction. But for the past decade, astronomers have been ...

For nearly a decade, astronomers have been searching for a hypothetical giant planet that may lurk in the distant reaches of the solar system. We could be on the brink of discovering this new world, ...

Are planets in the solar system that are closer to the Sun older than the ones further away? – Gavriel, age 10, Paducah, Kentucky A cloud of collapsing gas created our Sun, the first thing to form in ...

Our fundamental understanding of Neptune and Uranus may be completely wrong, say researchers rethinking our solar system.

This artist's concept shows what the gas giant planet that orbits the star Alpha Centauri A could look like. (R. Hurt (Caltech/IPAC) | NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI) Just 4.3 light years from Earth lies a ...

Just 4.3 light years from Earth lies a star called Alpha Centauri A, which is famous for being the nearest star that resembles our own Sun. In the popular Avatar movies, this star's system is home to ...