Many violent astrophysical phenomena, from quasars to some types of supernovae, are probably driven by accretion: gas falling onto a compact object. Frequently, the energy involved then blasts light ...

It’s textbook astronomy. Planets form little by little, as material slowly congeals within the disk of gas, dust, and ice known to swaddle young stars. First, gravity gathers together bits of dust, ...

An accidental discovery of a probable protoplanet orbiting the star AB Aurigae may challenge our understanding of how gas giants form. Legend has it that Isaac Newton first conceived of the concept of ...

The disk-instability model 9,10,11,12,13,14 was developed to explain outbursts in compact binaries in which a white dwarf accretes from a low-mass companion 15. A cool (neutral) quiescent disk is ...

When new planets form around stars they have flattened shapes, like Smarties, and are not spherical as previously thought, scientists have said. Researchers at the University of Central Lancashire ...

Our knowledge of planets outside our Solar System has been transformed in the past few years. But these new-found worlds don't look much like our planetary neighbours, and no one is quite sure why.

When new planets form around stars they have flattened shapes, like Smarties sweets, and are not spherical as previously thought, scientists have said. Researchers at the University of Central ...