For years, an Australian prospector guarded a heavy “gold rock” that refused to crack, convinced it might hold a ...

Much remains to be known about the chemical composition of small asteroids. Their potential to harbor valuable metals, materials from the early solar system, and the possibility of obtaining a ...

Scientists have revealed a surprising discovery. A meteorite found on Earth is actually older than our planet. The finding opens a new window into how the solar system began. It also explains how the ...

What shaped our solar system? By studying a meteorite that formed before the planets, scientists discovered that magnetic fields played a large part. It takes only about three million years. That’s ...

Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system (so large, in fact, that some scientists think it might have even consumed other worlds), a gas giant so massive that it shaped the orbits and ...

Smithsonian researchers analyzed fragments of the near-Earth asteroid and discovered water-rich clays that hint at a distant origin Jack Tamisiea A view of the outside of the OSIRIS-REx sample ...

Mysterious spherical droplets in meteorites aren’t just cosmic oddities. They’re evidence of planetary formation. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here ...

Around 4.6 billion years ago, as the young solar system formed, Jupiter's rapid growth created enormous gravitational disturbances in the Solar System. The findings provide the most convincing ...

Chondrules, measuring between 0.1 and 2 millimeters in diameter, are molten rock droplets that have puzzled scientists for decades. These tiny spheres were formed under extreme conditions during the ...

Chondrules are tiny, round droplets of once-molten rock found in many meteorites. They formed when silicate liquids cooled and hardened in space, but how exactly they came to be has puzzled scientists ...

Meteorites discovered on Earth escaped the violent formation of the planet Jupiter, and now researchers say these space rocks help date the formation of the largest planet in our solar system to 4.6 ...

What are chondrules and how do they form? Chondrules, small round droplets of molten rock, are found in meteorites today. They were formed when Jupiter's gravity disrupted the orbits of small rocky ...