Star formation is an intricate process that transforms vast molecular clouds into newborn stars, often accompanied by the formation of circumstellar discs composed of gas and dust. These ...

Higher-mass stars are more efficient in capturing interstellar objects in their discs,” said Susanne Pfalzner. “Therefore, interstellar object-seeded planet formation should be more efficient around ...

A detailed study of young stars and their surroundings has produced dramatic new evidence about how multiple-star systems form and how the dusty disks that are the raw material for planets grow around ...

When a star is born, it doesn’t emerge in isolation. Instead, it forms inside a large, chaotic cloud of gas and dust. Around it, a flat disk of spinning material takes shape. This protoplanetary disk ...

The SOAR Telescope, located on Cerro Pachón in Chile, has received a major upgrade with the installation of the SOAR Telescope Echelle Spectrograph (STELES). The long-awaited instrument achieved first ...

Apples-to-apples comparisons in the distant universe are hard to come by. Whether the subject is dwarf galaxies, supermassive black holes, or 'hot Jupiters,' astronomers can spend months or years ...

A family of six gaseous worlds circling like rhythmic dervishes around a sun-like star will soon help astronomers better understand how planetary systems like our own formed and evolved. This newly ...

Two of the objects in the arrangement are cold brown dwarfs, which will serve as a benchmark for others throughout the Milky Way. By Katrina Miller Zenghua Zhang, an astronomer at Nanjing University ...

Astronomers have discovered a rare star system in which six planets orbit around one star in an elaborate geometrical pattern due to a phenomenon called orbital resonance. Using both NASA’s Transiting ...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Astronomers have discovered the earliest seeds of rocky planets forming in the gas around a baby sun-like star, providing a precious peek into the dawn of our own solar system.