(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Christopher Palma, Penn State and Lucas Brefka, Penn State (THE CONVERSATION) ...

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like ...

Our solar system’s origin story spans billions of years and involves clouds of gas, cosmic collisions, and planetary migrations that shaped the worlds we know today. While it may seem intuitive that ...

The classical picture of star and planet formation suggests that a star’s rotational axis and the orbital planes of its planets should be aligned. However, exoplanetary systems have considerable ...

As J.R.R. Tolkien wrote in The Fellowship of the Ring, “Not all those who wander are lost.” But in the case of planets, it’s possible that most of them are. Rogue planets—planets that are adrift in ...

Six planets are hanging out in the sky this month in what’s known as a planetary parade. Catch the spectacle while you can because it’s the last one of the year. These linkups happen when several ...

NEW YORK (AP) — Six planets are hanging out in the sky this month in what's known as a planetary parade. Catch the spectacle while you can because it's the last one of the year. These linkups happen ...

So far, humanity has yet to find its first "exomoon"—a moon orbiting a planet outside of the solar system. But that hasn't ...