Discover the only planet in our solar system that rotates clockwise. Learn why this 'rebel' planet spins backwards, how a ...

Over the years, passing spacecraft have observed mystifying weather patterns at the poles of Jupiter and Saturn. The two ...

Context. As a star evolves, the planet orbits change with time due to tidal interactions, stellar mass losses, friction and gravitational drag forces, mass accretion and evaporation on/by the planet.

Thanks to NASA's Cassini spacecraft which has been orbiting Saturn since 2004, scientists have been able to observe for the first time ever the seasonal atmospheric circulation direction change on ...

Venus' volatile atmosphere expands in the sun, creating a low pressure area that drives strong winds around the planet. Image by NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory-Caltech Venus is Earth’s sister planet, ...

Jupiter and Saturn's different polar storms reveal clues about planet interiors: Saturn has harder bottom than Jupiter.

We still don’t fully understand what determines the rotation rate of giant planets; this is a key open topic in planetary science. Let’s take a look at the differences between the giant planets — ...

First detected in 2004, the dwarf planetHaumeaquickly stood out due to its rapid rotation and elongated form. But the 2017 ...

James is a published author with multiple pop-history and science books to his name. He specializes in history, space, strange science, and anything out of the ordinary.View full profile James is a ...

Every second, the Earth spins at an incredible speed, completing a full rotation in just 24 hours. While this may seem ordinary, the simple act of our planet turning on its axis is responsible for the ...

The famed science fiction author Isaac Asimov called them "ribbon worlds" — planets forced to always show one face to their parent star. The star side is locked in perpetual day, its sun never dipping ...

Astronomers are especially interested in the habitability of these kinds of planets, which always face their star with the same side, because they are incredibly common in the universe. When you ...