Saturn has not always had rings — the planet's haloes may date only to the age of dinosaurs, or after it, a new study finds.

Planet-forming disks of material typically orbit around the equators of stars, but now scientists have discovered such rings can go dramatically awry and encircle the poles of stars instead.

An instrument aboard the International Space Station has helped reveal how black holes release brilliant flares of X-rays, a new study finds.

A newfound kind of super-Earth alien planet might glitter with rubies and sapphires, a new study finds.

The most luminous galaxy known appears to have devoured three smaller galaxies at the same time, revealing details about why it shone so brightly.

The first known interstellar visitor to the solar system, 'Oumuamua, highlights how life could also spread between the stars, and perhaps even across the galaxy, two new studies find.

When the biggest stars in the universe die, they may form exotic states of matter generally not seen in the universe since fractions of a second after the Big Bang.

Dust clouds that orbit Earth like moons may finally have had their existence confirmed after more than a half-century of controversy, new research finds.

Space elevators to ferry passengers and cargo to and from orbit could be built using existing materials, if the technology takes inspiration from biology to fix itself when needed, a new study finds.

Moons could possess moons of their own. Kepler-1625b-i, a newfound candidate to be a giant alien moon, may even possess one or more moons that once had habitable surfaces, a new study finds.

The wobbly surface of dwarf planet Ceres has shifted over the years, resulting an epic makeover of ridges and cracks, scientists say.

By analyzing methane in the skies of Jupiter and Saturn's moon Titan, scientists are now pinpointing what effects this global warming gas is having on Earth, a new study finds.

What might stars be like in other universes?

NASA's TESS spacecraft has detected its first alien world — a "super-Earth" that is likely evaporating under the heat from its star, a new study reports.

Dozens of ancient ice volcanoes once dotted the surface of the dwarf planet Ceres, a new study finds.

Ancient and rare blue crystals from the dawn of the solar system help confirm that the newborn sun was violently active, a new study reports.

The first mission designed to hunt a meteorite that crashed into the ocean has now discovered what may be tiny fragments of the meteorite's crust, researchers say.