The object orbits a brown dwarf that orbits a star, and astronomers aren’t sure if it’s a planet, a moon — or something else entirely.

Few exoplanets have captured the imagination quite like 55 Cancri e, a scorched world sometimes nicknamed the diamond planet. Orbiting a Sun-like star about 40 light-years away, this super-Earth ...

WD 1856 b is the only confirmed case of a planet that survived the death of a Sun-like star. It’s a Jupiter-size world orbiting a white dwarf—the burned-out remnant of a Sun-like star. Now, a team of ...

Are Planets, and Maybe Life, the Cosmic Norm? Once upon a not-so-distant time (we’re looking at you, early 20th century), scientists believed planets circling stars were rare oddities in the vast ...

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Astronomers have found evidence of a process that supports an alternative, more rapid approach to planetary formation, more top down than bottom up. By Katrina Miller When it comes to making a planet, ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Leslie Katz covers the intersection of culture, science and tech. A yellowish-orange glow bathes Phainoterra, a planet of dramatic ...

A sunlike star next door called Alpha Centauri A may host a huge planet, researchers report in two studies in press in Astrophysical Journal Letters. The planet candidate orbits in its star’s ...

Since the dawn of human civilization, planets have captivated our collective imagination. These cosmic wanderers – sweeping across the night sky in breathtaking celestial choreography – continue to ...