Star and planet formation has largely been considered separate, sequential processes. But in a new study, scientists at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) have modeled a different scenario where ...

As planetary systems evolve, gravitational interactions between planets can fling some of them into eccentric elliptical orbits around the host star, or even out of the system altogether. Smaller ...

The orbits of the planets around the sun have been the source for many a scientific debate. Their current orbital properties are well understood but the planetary orbits have evolved and changed since ...

Ajmal Yousuff, PhD, a professor in the College of Engineering, was quoted in a Nov. 30 CNET explainer story about satellite orbits.

Scientists have been trying to find a hypothetical Planet 9 that may exist outside our known solar system based on the unusual orbits of certain dwarf planets. But those orbits might not require a ...

Every planet moves around the Sun at its own pace, from Mercury’s 88-day year to Neptune’s 165-year orbit. Orbital periods, rotation times, speeds, and solar distance reveal how differently time works ...

James is a published author with multiple pop-history and science books to his name. He specializes in history, space, strange science, and anything out of the ordinary.View full profile James is a ...

Planets orbit their parent stars while separated by enormous distances – in our solar system, planets are like grains of sand in a region the size of a football field. The time that planets take to ...

Scientists have a new explanation for the mystery of why some alien planets the size of Jupiter or larger travel in the opposite direction of their parent star's spin. Of the more than 500 alien ...