With this new survey, astronomers have gained a peek inside a stage of exoplanet system formation they have yet to fully ...

In a breakthrough study scientists have solved an age-old scientific riddle by discovering that planetary rings, such as those orbiting Saturn, have a universally similar particle distribution. The ...

Astronomers have discovered what they think may be another moon orbiting a distant dwarf planet called Quaoar. This small, icy, egg-shaped planet in the far reaches of our solar system, beyond Neptune ...

A dwarf planet called Quaoar, lurking at the outermost boundaries of the solar system, has astronomers scratching their heads, as the sheer size of its newly discovered ring practically defies ...

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Left to right: Saturn, Uranus, and Jupiter show off their rings for various NASA spacecraft.

A discovery in the outer reaches of the solar system has given some of the world's top astronomers more questions than it has answers. It's related to the rings of Quaoar, a small body around half the ...

Have you ever wondered why Saturn has those giant, gorgeous rings, while the even larger Jupiter doesn’t? They’re both neighboring gas giants, so what’s the deal? You wouldn’t be the first, and ...

When planetary rings are mentioned, the image of Saturn immediately comes to mind. However, this celestial feature is not exclusive to gas giants and appears in much more unexpected places in the ...

Astronomers discovered a ring around a distant dwarf planet beyond Neptune at a distance from the dwarf planet that was previously thought to be impossible, defying astronomers’ understanding of how ...

This chapter of the book Planetary Ring Systems addresses the origin of planetary rings, one of the least understood processes related to planet formation and evolution. Whereas rings seem ubiquitous ...