Earth has a newly-discovered neighbor in the solar system. But the heavenly body – possibly a dwarf planet à la Pluto – isn't a frequent visitor. Located beyond Neptune, its extreme orbit ...

These icy bodies orbit the sun just like the major planets, yet they follow their own rules, often traveling along elongated ...

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has discovered that a hazy sky over frozen Pluto is helping to cool the dwarf planet's atmosphere, while at the same time giving methane and other organic ...

The heart's brightness arises from sunlight reflection, while red patches, formed by tholins, showcase Pluto's atmospheric ...

Scientists have detected methane gas glowing faintly above Makemake, an icy dwarf planet smaller and farther than Pluto in space. Until now, Pluto was the only object that far out in the solar system ...

A composite image showing the five dwarf planets recognized by the International Astronomical Union, plus the newly discovered trans-Neptunian object 2017 OF201. The TNO is potentially large enough to ...

When NASA's New Horizons spacecraft sped by Pluto in 2015, it revealed an incredible world of ice and haze carved by various geological processes — hinting that an ocean may have played a role in the ...

Astronomers have detected the chemical fingerprint of a frozen, water-rich planetary fragment being devoured by a white dwarf star, offering the clearest evidence yet that icy, life-delivering objects ...

Our solar system is much like a trail of microcosmic breadcrumbs: Follow the molecular bits as far back as they go, and you'll learn a thing or two about where many of our planets and other celestial ...