Trying to understand the makeup and evolution of the solar system's Kuiper belt has kept researchers busy since it was hypothesized soon after the discovery of Pluto in 1930. In particular, binary ...

Protoplanetary disk. Figure from a computer simulation visualizing the formation of planets (https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12278 ). Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech. August 22, 2024, Mountain View, CA - An ...

This figure illustrates the formation and numerical replication of barred olivine, a unique crystalline texture found in chondrules within meteorites. (a) A polarized light micrograph shows a natural ...

New studies offer a clearer picture of how the outer solar system formed and evolved based on analyses of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) and centaurs. The findings reveal the distribution of ices in ...

Trans-Neptunian objects (TNO) are some of our solar system's lesser-known objects. They number in the thousands, and they get their name from their orbits. These dwarf planets orbit the sun at a ...

Our solar system is a smashing success. A new study suggests that from its earliest period — even before the last of its nebular gas had been consumed — Earth’s solar system and its planets looked ...

A computer visualization maps small bodies in the solar system that are expected to be observed by the Rubin Observatory during the 10-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time. Red indicates near-Earth ...