Gas giants possibly developed slowly in the solar system. They developed cores layer by layer within a disk of ice and dust ...

All planets are made of gas, ice, rock and metal, and models of how planets form usually assume that these materials don't react chemically with each other. But what if some of them do? UCLA and ...

What are planets made of? In Part 2, we dive deeper into the incredible chemistry revealed inside protoplanetary discs. Using spectroscopy, astronomers have detected water vapor, complex organic ...

In the early chaos of planetary formation, before crusts cooled or atmospheres settled, water might already have been bubbling into existence. Not fromicy comets or far-flung asteroids, but from the ...

Life on Earth may exist thanks to an incredible stroke of luck — a chemical sweet spot that most planets miss during their ...