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Found 273 results for dwarf planet

The sun could capture rogue planets from 3.8 light years away

29 July 2024

A mathematical model suggests there is an unusual region of space where objects can get pulled into the sun’s orbit – meaning we may have to redraw the boundary of the solar system

A new formula for defining a planet still keeps Pluto out of the club

16 July 2024

The official definition of a planet, which famously saw Pluto demoted to dwarf planet status in 2006, doesn't really work for worlds outside of our solar system. Now there is a fix – but Pluto is still left out

Why you should feel comforted, not scared, by the vastness of space

26 June 2024

Some people find the scale of the universe existentially frightening, but here's why you should take it as a source of comfort

Is an old NASA probe about to redraw the frontier of the solar system?

19 June 2024

The New Horizons mission to Pluto, now zooming out of the Kuiper belt, has made a discovery that could upend what we know about where the solar system ends

Pluto and the largest moon of Neptune might be siblings

18 June 2024

The chemical composition of Pluto and Triton suggests they originated in the same region of the outer solar system before the latter was pulled into Neptune’s orbit

Mystery of 'impossible' star resolved by three-body solution

14 May 2024

A white dwarf star orbiting a sun-like star was thought to be impossibly small, but now astronomers have found another star in the system that solves the puzzle

Planet caught in a gravitational 'tidal storm' is so hot that it glows

2 April 2024

A strange world is being stretched out of shape by its neighbouring planets, heating it up so intensely that it probably has a molten surface

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/gallery-earth/en/ NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman tweeted this photo from the International Space Station on Tuesday morning, Sept. 2, 2014. Credit: NASA/Reid Wiseman

It's time to accept that we are in the Anthropocene once and for all

13 March 2024

Humans are drastically changing the planet and the Anthropocene is a useful tool to help us deal with that – so let's stop quibbling over definitions

Asteroid impact event. Lateral sectioned view of an asteroid impact, similar to that which is thought to have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs around 65 million years ago. The impact took place at sea near the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, forming the Chicxulub crater (around 200 kilometres across). The impact threw trillions of tons of dust into the atmosphere and sent tsunamis (massive waves) around the globe, destroying coastal areas. Dust and water vapour in the atmosphere lowered global temperatures. Plant and then animal life began to die off. The dinosaurs never recovered, and mammals rose to become the dominant form of life.

Could Earth sustain life without having been hit by a dwarf planet?

6 March 2024

There are lots of ideas about how life got started on Earth, say our readers, but if an object hadn’t crashed into Earth to form the moon, as per the giant-impact hypothesis, life may not have begun