When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. An illustration of confirmed dwarf planets and their moons. From left to right: Pluto (with ...

Pluto, the most famous dwarf planet, lost its planet status in 2006. Learn more about dwarf planets of the solar system here. NASA's Dawn spacecraft has been granted a mission extension that will ...

Planets that orbit white dwarf stars should be too hot to host alien life, theories suggest. But a new study accounting for Einstein's general relativity may rewrite that rule. When you purchase ...

Why does humanity live on a planet orbiting a rare G-type dwarf star (like our Sun) when M-type red dwarfs comprise 82% of stars and are 33 times more abundant? Why do we live so early (1% into) the ...

A new survey maps nearby K-type stars and shows why these long-lived, stable stars are important targets in the search for ...

A color-enhanced view of Ceres, the nearest dwarf planet to Earth, high­lights its Oc­ca­tor crater. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA Pluto is the most famous dwarf planet, due in ...

Images of the area of the microlensing event, indicated by perpendicular white lines, years before the event (a), shortly after peak magnification of the background star in 2020 (b) and in 2023 after ...

The dwarf planet is a bizarre, cryovolcanic world. However, the organic deposits discovered on its surface so far are unlikely to originate from its interior. The organic material found in a few areas ...

For decades, Pluto was celebrated as the ninth planet of our solar system. However, in 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) redefined what constitutes a planet, leading to Pluto’s ...

How many dwarf planets are there in our solar system? The recent discovery of 2017 OF201 makes the tally anywhere between five and 18, plus hundreds of potentially undiscovered ones, depending on whom ...