Three new planets may join solar system
16 August 2006
A new proposal that defines 'planet' as a round body in orbit around a star would add a former asteroid, Pluto's moon and "Xena" to the solar system's pantheon of planets
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Premium
Found 465 results for dwarf planet
Planet debate: Proposed new definitions
16 August 2006
The International Astronomical Union will vote next week on what constitutes a planet – use our handy guide to see what all the fuss is about
Hubble finds distant planet's host star
9 August 2006
The discovery gives an even better idea of the nature of this solar system – the second most distant known
Local stars influence planet growth
14 June 2006
Planets that form around red dwarfs – the most common type of star in the cosmos – can be strongly influenced by their interstellar neighbours
Rocky planets may circle many white dwarfs
3 April 2006
Traces of heavy elements in the light the dead stars emit suggests white dwarfs are devouring asteroids – and five prime examples have been found
Brown dwarfs weighed directly for first time
15 March 2006
A pair of the "failed" stars, orbiting each other, give up their weighty secret – the breakthrough may allow other suspected brown dwarfs to be identified
Directly detected exoplanet has its temperature taken
22 February 2006
The gas giant is orbiting a red dwarf 63 light years away – scientists using the Spitzer Space Telescope have measured it at a toasty 844°C
Milky Way brims with singleton stars
27 January 2006
Most of the stars in the galaxy are born alone and live their lives in isolation, a controversial new analysis suggests – all the better for alien life-forms
Earth-like planet may be first of many
25 January 2006
Planet hunters have detected what seems to be the smallest extrasolar planet so far, orbiting a red dwarf 22,000 light years away
Smallest extrasolar planet revealed by microlensing
25 January 2006
The find suggests Earth-like planets are abundant in the galaxy and validates a technique that should be able to find them
