To do it they had to go to a dry lakebed in Nevada, and first build a model of the inner planets to a scale of 1 astronomical unit (AU, or distance from the Sun to Earth) of 176 metres.

Some orbits can be nearly circular, moving at a relatively constant speed, like Earth’s path around the sun. However, most orbits are at least slightly elliptical, taking oval pathways and moving at ...

A newly discovered ice comet from deep space may be over 7 billion years old, making it the most ancient comet scientists ...

A seismic shift occurred in astronomy during the Scientific Revolution, beginning with 16th-century polymath Copernicus and his proposal that the Earth revolved around the sun. By the 17th century, ...

Centimeter-sized pebbles have been detected in protoplanetary discs using e‑MERLIN, filling in a critical phase of planet ...

N ew research suggests that the Solar System may have captured a rogue planet, leading to changes in the existing orbits of the planets. The study, conducted by Edward Belbruno from Yeshiva ...

image: 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.

The massive object flew through the solar system at a velocity of about 6km per second, coming within 20 astronomical units of the sun and shaping the orbits of the gas giant planets into what we ...

I/ATLAS, earlier known as A11pI3Z, is only the third interstellar visitor to be discovered passing through our corner of the ...