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

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 ...

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 ...

We have all been taught in school that planets revolve in the same direction as the Earth, i.e., in the counterclockwise ...

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 ...

Jupiter boasts the shortest day in our solar system, completing a rotation in just under 10 hours. This rapid spin, a result of its immense size, gaseous composition, and retained angular momentum ...

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

A planet's year length depends on its distance from the Sun. Planets closer to the Sun have shorter years. A planet's rotation speed is unrelated to its year length. Planets' orbital speeds vary ...

Every planet in our solar system is essentially round. But out in the universe, are there any planets that aren't spherical? Technically, planets are round, by definition; they need to have enough ...

An instantaneous cessation of Earth's rotation would result in catastrophic, planet-wide devastation due to the inertia of objects on the surface moving at high speeds (approximately 1000 mph at the ...

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 ...