27 June 2023
Many planets are thought to be flung away from their stars, but it’s possible that some get trapped on the way out – and one could be lurking at the edge of our own solar system
1 October 2022
The outer solar system holds some chunks of ice and rock that orbit so far from the sun it’s hard to imagine how they got there – but an ancient rogue planet may hold the key
1 December 2021
When we started finding planetary systems around other stars we thought many of them would be like ours. We’ve now found hundreds – and it’s so far, so wrong
23 October 2019
Designating rocks just a few kilometres across as moons is misleading and ridiculous. We need to do a Pluto and cut moons down to size, argues Leah Crane
22 May 2019
An audacious mission circling Jupiter’s poles is probing the planet’s deepest mysteries - including how it shaped our solar system and paved the way for our existence
14 March 2019
We’ve only seen one interstellar object, a rock called ‘Oumuamua that passed by in 2017, but they may be crucial to speeding up the planet-building process
25 July 2018
A fleeting glimpse of the ice giants 30 years ago hinted at very weird science that could tell us a lot about exoplanets. Now we have a rare chance to go back
18 July 2018
In the hunt for life beyond Earth, we've been looking for planets and stars like our own. But that is flawed – and a new plan promises answers in our lifetimes
18 July 2018
The outer solar system hosts a number of small bodies in mixed up orbits – and they may have been scattered there by a passing star
21 May 2018
An asteroid that has been orbiting backwards near Jupiter for billions of years may actually be an interstellar rock captured by our solar system
