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Study of ‘polluted’ white dwarfs finds that stars and planets grow together

Astronomers have discovered evidence that planetary formation can begin very quickly after the birth of a star. This incredible insight into the histories of planetary systems comes from white dwarfs, the dying remnants of the cores of stars like our Sun, rather than from...

Early planetary migration can explain missing planets

Rice University scientists and their collaborators are the first to use computer simulations to integrate a model of planet formation and evolution. It explains two puzzling observations of exoplanets orbiting distant stars. The scarcity of worlds is 1.8 times the size of Earth and...

How planets can be an anti-aging formula for stars

Tidal pressures exerted by a hot Jupiter may cause its host star to spin faster than it would without the planet. Because of its faster rotation, the host star may become more active and emit more X-rays, which are typical of young stars. A new...

Uncontrolled rocket descents pose a 10% risk of killing one or more people over the next ten years

A group of Canadian researchers at the University of British Columbia calculated that the risk of one or more people being killed by uncontrolled rocket descents is about 10% over the next decade. Michael Byers, Ewan Wright, Aaron Boley, and Cameron Byers describe their...

The solar system is stable for at least the next 100,000 years

It's nice to have a feel-good story every now and then, so here's one to keep the existential dread at bay: the Earth won't be flung off into deep space for at least 100,000 years. In fact, all of the planets in the solar...

Triply eclipsing stellar systems

Stars with the mass of the sun or greater are usually accompanied by one or more companion stars in orbit. When gravity contracts the gas and dust of an interstellar cloud, clumps that are dense enough to coalesce into stars form. According to one...