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 new work shows that an Earth-sized planet needs at least 20 to 50% of the water in Earth’s oceans to maintain a critical natural cycle that keeps water on the surface. “This has implications for a ...

As far-fetched as it may seem, quirks of orbital mechanics could allow hundreds of planets to be packed around a star ...

Rocky planets like our Earth may be far more common than previously thought, according to new research published in the journal Science Advances. It suggests that when our solar system formed, a ...

Astronomers are investigating a strange class of exoplanets known as eccentric warm Jupiters — massive gas giants that orbit their stars in unexpected, elongated paths. Unlike their close-orbiting ...

By combining models of high-energy astrophysics with planetary science, I study how violent astrophysical events influence the formation and evolution of planetary systems. I am particularly ...

Picture a world utterly unlike anything in our solar system — no warming sun, no familiar sky, just an endless expanse of cold, dark interstellar space stretching in every direction. No seasons. No ...

An exoplanetary system about 116 light-years from Earth could flip the script on how planets form, according to researchers who discovered it using telescopes from NASA and the European Space Agency, ...