Large and small planets are born from very different circumstances, according to data from NASA’s now-retired space telescope ...

Asteroids are rocky objects that orbit the Sun, just like planets do. There are millions of asteroids of very different shapes and sizes. Some are almost spheres, like planets, but most are ...

Using the now-retired Kepler space telescope, astronomers have discovered that larger planets grow up in more turbulent homes ...

Large planets need metal-rich stars in order to form; small planets do not ... eventually they form a planet that can be about the size of Earth or, if the planetary core is very large, up ...

Pollard A quartet of Earth-like worlds, each about 20% to 30% the size of our planet ... subtle shifts in the movement of ...

concentrated on understanding the intricate dynamics leading to the reduction in size of specific sub-Neptune planets. Christiansen's team suggested a compelling link between the cores of select ...

Details such as how long it takes the planet to complete an orbit and how much light it blocks as it passes in front of the star offer clues to its size and orbit. Astronomers can make a few ...

Large planets need metal-rich stars in order to form; small planets do not ... eventually they form a planet that can be about the size of Earth or, if the planetary core is very large, up ...

Narrator: As the solar system grew, four rocky planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, were created closest to the Sun. Made of rocks and metals, they have solid surfaces and a central core of ...

A new study presents a compelling new model for the formation of super-Earths and mini-Neptunes -- planets that are 1 to 4 times the size of Earth and among the most common in our galaxy.

"What we found is that right around the size of Neptune, planets go from being almost always on circular orbits to very often having elliptical orbits," team leader and UCLA researcher Gregory ...