A key method of forming planets finally has observational evidence, thanks to a network of radio telescopes in the U.K. that have resolved the existence of a huge abundance of centimeter-sized pebbles ...

Researchers solve the mystery of how Saturn and Jupiter formed, which changes how we think of planetary formation as a whole. Michelle Starr is CNET's science editor, and she hopes to get you as ...

Using a new process in planetary formation modeling, where planets grow from tiny bodies called “pebbles,” Southwest Research Institute scientists can explain why Mars is so much smaller than Earth.

Jupiter is gargantuan. With a mass two and a half times greater than all of the other planets combined and a volume equivalent to 1,321 Earths, the gas giant commands respect. There are some who even ...

Scientists have long puzzled over how our solar system’s planets formed, because this isn’t a process they can watch unfold. Researchers have generally thought that Jupiter and Saturn grew out of ...

Researchers at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and Queen’s University in Canada have unraveled the mystery of how Jupiter and Saturn likely formed. This discovery, which changes our view of how ...

The solar system was supposed to have more gas giants — at least that’s what previous attempts to model the solar system’s emergence said. So how’d we end up with only Jupiter and Saturn? A new paper ...

There’s a problem brewing in planetary science. The disk of dust and gas that surrounded our Sun at the start of its life 4.5 billion years ago, from which the planets formed, is thought to have ...

Gas-giant planets such as Jupiter and Saturn form quickly by scooping up pebble-size building blocks and pushing smaller potential planets out of the way, new research suggests. Stars are born from ...

Some 4.5 billion years ago, the solar system was a nursery full of planetary toddlers. Around the young sun swirled a disk of gas and dust left over from the solar system’s birth. Studded within the ...

Using a new process in planetary formation modeling, where planets grow from tiny bodies called “pebbles,” Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) scientists can explain why Mars is so much smaller than ...

Researchers at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and Queen’s University in Canada have unraveled the mystery of how Jupiter and Saturn likely formed. This discovery changes our view of how all ...