Giant Planets

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  Scientists Trace Rare Cosmic Outburst to a Massive Planetary Collision Around Gaia20ehk

  Astronomers have reported evidence of two planets colliding around a distant Sun-like star, Gaia20ehk, located about 11,000 light-years away. The star's light output remained steady until 2016, when it exhibited three minor dimming events; by 2021, the light curve reportedly "went completely bonkers." Follow-up infrared observations revealed a burs...

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  James Webb Telescope Captures Rare Infrared Footprints of Io and Ganymede Inside Jupiter’s Auroras

  Jupiter produces the strongest auroras in the solar system. These features glow brightly around its poles as energetic particles crash into the giant planet's atmosphere. New observations have now revealed that Jupiter's moons can disturb this glowing display in unexpected ways. Scientists using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have identified...

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  Jupiter Resumes Direct Motion This March as the Gas Giant Hits Peak Visibility for 2026 Skywatchers

  Jupiter’s retrograde motion ends around March 10, 2026, when the giant planet appears to reverse direction in the sky. The effect is caused by Earth overtaking Jupiter in its orbit. The bright planet will shine in Gemini near Castor and Pollux throughout March.

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  NASA Juno Mission Uncovers Subtle Geometric Shifts That Challenge Existing Models of the Jovian Interior

  Scientists have refined Jupiter’s size and shape using modern radio signal observations, finding the giant planet slightly smaller and more flattened than earlier estimates. Though the difference is only a few kilometres, researchers say it greatly improves models of Jupiter’s interior, gravity, and atmospheric structure, offering deeper insigh...

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  Giant Planet Jupiter Set To Come Closest To Earth This Week Offering An Unmissable Sky View

  Its four largest moons can be seen with ordinary binoculars.

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  Uranus and Neptune May Be Rock-Dominated Planets, Study Suggests

  Uranus and Neptune may not be true ice giants after all. New research using advanced hybrid simulations suggests the distant planets could be dominated by rocky material rather than water-rich ices. The findings challenge decades of planetary models and may help explain the planets’ unusual, non-dipolar magnetic fields. Scientists say future dedi...

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  Uranus and Neptune May Be Rocky Worlds Not Ice Giants, New Research Shows

  A new analysis challenges decades-old assumptions about Uranus and Neptune, revealing that both planets may contain far more rock than icy materials. These findings help explain their strange magnetic fields and show that traditional "ice giant" models may be incomplete. Scientists say only dedicated future missions can uncover the true interior ma...

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  James Webb Space Telescope Spots an Exoplanet Losing Its Atmosphere in a Huge Helium Stream

  Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have observed a massive helium cloud escaping from the super-puff exoplanet WASP-107b, marking the first direct detection of such atmospheric loss. Webb’s infrared data reveal an enormous exosphere nearly ten times the planet’s radius, with helium streaming both ahead of and behind the plane...

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  NASA's Astronomers Reveal Red Giant Stars May Destroy Their Own Planets

  This extreme expansion poses a serious threat to nearby planets. For example, when the Sun becomes a red giant in about 5 billion years, it will likely swallow Mercury and Venus.

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  One Of The World's Rarest Whales Grows In Population In The Atlantic

  One of the rarest whales on the planet has continued an encouraging trend of population growth in the wake of new efforts to protect the giant animals, according to scientists who study them.