New research led by the Takeshi Horinouchi of Hokkaido University has revealed that the super-rotation of Venus' atmosphere is maintained near the equator by atmospheric tidal waves that have formed ...

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.

The cloudier an alien planet is, the closer it can get to its star and still remain potentially life-friendly, researchers say. In fact, clouds might help Earth-like planets remain hospitable to life ...

This image illustrates how a star illuminates and heats the day side of a synchronously rotating planet, and the phenomena of transit and occultation (eclipse). The bottom of the figure shows the ...

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 ...

Editor’s note: Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. Mars is rotating more quickly than it ...

We have all been taught in school that planets revolve in the same direction as the Earth, i.e., in the counterclockwise direction. However, the universe never ceases to amaze us with its unexpected ...

How do we distinguish the north pole from the south pole of planets other than Earth? Is it an arbitrary selection, or is there a magnetic field direction we rely on? According to the International ...