Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Leslie Katz covers the intersection of culture, science and tech. A yellowish-orange glow bathes Phainoterra, a planet of dramatic ...

Estimating the chance of getting a message from life beyond Earth, say within the next decade, isn’t easy. Even the best experts are reluctant to offer precise odds. “Anybody who gave you a figure ...

Astronomers are investigating a strange class of exoplanets known as eccentric warm Jupiters — massive gas giants that orbit their stars in unexpected, elongated paths. Unlike their close-orbiting ...

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 dubbed ...

In the early chaos of planetary formation, before crusts cooled or atmospheres settled, water might already have been bubbling into existence. Not fromicy comets or far-flung asteroids, but from the ...