Welcome to SolarBalls! Enjoy entertaining space animations that explore the solar system and the universe through comedy.

The giant planets weren't always where we find them today. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune formed in a more compact configuration and later underwent a violent reshuffling that scattered them to ...

Earth may owe some of its properties to a nearby star that blew up just as the solar system was forming. This pattern, which saw a supernova bubble envelop the sun and shower it with cosmic rays, may ...

Earth has the perfect combination of a livable atmosphere and a protective magnetic field that prevents the Sun's harmful radiation and radioactive solar winds from damaging us, allowing us to live on ...

Simulations reveal that Jupiter’s rapid growth disrupted the early solar system, creating rings where new planetesimals formed much later than expected. These late-forming bodies match the ages and ...

Illustration comparing the planets of the Solar System and the Sun on the same scale. The planets are shown to scale relative to each other but their distances are not. From left to right the bodies ...

Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, may have been responsible for a mysterious age gap in the early solar system's planet building blocks. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Tanya ...

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Planetary scientists are split, oscillating between two main theories that explain the order in ...

There are a couple of ways that scientists can date planets, so which planets formed first in our solar system? When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s ...

LONDON — The search for an unknown planet in our solar system has inspired astronomers for more than a century. Now, a recent study suggests a potential new candidate, which the paper's authors have ...