Jupiter, the largest planet orbiting the sun, used to be much bigger and stronger when the solar system was just beginning to take shape, a pair of astronomers say. Two scientists at Caltech and the ...

Not all of the solar system’s building blocks formed simultaneously. Some of the first solid bodies, or planetesimals, formed in the first million years after the Sun was born. Others, including the ...

Over four billion years ago, the solar system was a wild and dangerous place. Swirling clouds of dust and gas slowly turned into the planets we know today. One giant, Jupiter, grew quickly and changed ...

Four and a half billion years ago, Jupiter rapidly grew to its massive size. Its powerful gravitational pull disrupted the orbits of small rocky and icy bodies similar to modern asteroids and comets, ...

Four and a half billion years ago Jupiter rapidly grew to its massive size. Its powerful gravitational pull disrupted the orbits of small rocky and icy bodies similar to modern asteroids and comets, ...

The shocking findings were part of a recent study in which astronomers effectively peered back in time to discover what Jupiter was like in its early years. Jupiter is not only the largest in the ...

Illustration comparing the planets of the Solar System and the Sun on the same scale. The planets are shown to scale relative to each other but their distances are not. From left to right the bodies ...

Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, was 2 to 2.5 times bigger in its earlier life, according to new research. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Tanya Oleksuik Jupiter, the ...