Makemake, discovered in 2005, orbits the Kuiper Belt nearly 6.8 billion kilometers from the Sun and is one of the brightest objects in the outer Solar System, reflecting more than 70% of the sunlight ...

Scientists have detected methane gas on the dwarf planet Makemake, indicating that the distant body is a dynamic icy world. The discovery was made by a team led by the Southwest Research Institute ...

In approximately 5 billion years, the sun will deplete its hydrogen fuel and collapse under its own gravity, becoming a white dwarf. Though Earth-sized, this dense remnant will retain much of the ...

Astronomers recently peered deep into space and found that an old, faint white dwarf named LSPM J0207+3331, located about 145 light-years away, is still consuming the rocky remains of its former ...

A 3-billion-year-old white dwarf, the core of a dead star, consumed an exoplanet from its former planetary system. Credit: NASA / ESA / Joseph Olmsted illustration A dead star core about 145 ...

In an ancient star system expected to be stable and dormant, scientists found a 3 billion-year-old white dwarf star still tearing apart massive quantities of rock. “The rate we’ve seen rock consumed ...

Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. When I think about what makes someone care about the natural world, ...

This marks the first time astronomers have observed the formation of a ring system. Saturn isn't the only planet in our solar system with a ring system. While Saturn's rings are the most dramatic, the ...

More than any other type of television programming, science fiction shows are most often defined by their opening credits.

The fall also inspired a book, which inspired a game, which inspired the world’s richest man to lash out because his favorite ...

As scientists try to untangle the reasons for skyrocketing rates of nearsightedness in kids, new treatment options can help prevent their vision from getting worse. In the U.S. myopia rates have ...