The cosmos is a void dotted with stars and an ever-increasing number of newly-observed planets beyond our solar system. Yet, how these stars and planets formed out of clouds of interstellar dust and ...

Of the more than 6,000 known exoplanets in the Milky Way, so-called Sub-Neptunes are the most common. They are smaller than Neptune and more massive than Earth and believed to have rocky interiors ...

How does fine dust aggregate into building blocks that ultimately form entire planets like our Earth? A research team led by the University of Bern, with the participation of ETH Zurich, the ...

Some planets might produce their own water instead of relying on outside sources. In laboratory experiments, researchers simulated extreme conditions found within certain exoplanets by blasting ...

An artist’s depiction of an exoplanet larger than Earth and smaller than Neptune. A blue planet in the foreground blocks the light of a star. Recent high-temperature, high-pressure experiments suggest ...

Researchers have discovered more than 6,000 exoplanets in our Milky Way. Of these, the sub-Neptune class, which are smaller than Neptune and more massive than Earth, are the most common. These planets ...

Planets form within protoplanetary disks: vast disks of gas and dust orbiting around very young stars. From the finest dust grains to fully-formed planets, several distinct physical processes occur.

New research uses laboratory experiments to demonstrate that water is naturally created during the planet formation process. By squeezing and heating planetary analog materials between the tips of two ...