A long-standing idea in planetary science is that water-rich meteorites arriving late in Earth’s history could have delivered a major share of Earth’s water. A new study by Universities Space […]
In the Earth system, Phosphorus (P) does not form a single phase, but mostly combines into compounds forming multiple minerals. Phosphate (P+5) is the majority P species in the Earth’s […]
![Estimated total mass of transiting compact systems, Mtot, scaled to the stellar mass, M∗. a, (Mtot/M∗) for compact systems having ≥ 3 known planets that orbit a single star within a < 0.5 au (circle markers, blue box). Points are ordered left-to-right by ascending stellar mass. Data are from www.exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu. For cases without mass estimates, we use the observed planet radius, increase the estimated radius uncertainty by a factor of 2, and then apply a radius vs. mass relation [46]. Light [medium] blue circles are systems with all [some] planetary masses estimated from this relation, while dark blue circles are systems with measured planetary masses. We include only systems with resulting errors ∆Mtot/Mtot < 1. b, Distribution of compact system mass ratios. Over a wide range of stellar masses (M∗ ∼ 0.1 to 1.3 stellar mass), compact multi-planet systems display a common mass ratio, with 90% of systems having 3×10−5 < (Mtot/M∗) < 3×10−4 (gray shaded region). This mass ratio is more similar to that of the gas giant satellite systems (square markers, yellow box) than to the inner or outer planets in our Solar System (triangle markers, red box). -- astro-ph.EP](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Origin-of-compact-exoplanetary.png?resize=1200%2C718&ssl=1)
Exoplanetary systems that contain multiple planets on short-period orbits appear to be prevalent in the current observed exoplanetary population, yet the processes that give rise to such configurations remain poorly […]
The origin of chondrules, and the chondritic sedimentary rocks that dominate the meteoritic record, is a long-standing problem in planetary science. Here, we develop a physical model for the formation […]
The solar system planetary architecture has been proposed to be consistent with the terrestrial and giant planets forming from material rings at ~1 au and ~5 au, respectively.
Migration of bodies under the gravitational influence of almost formed planets was studied, and probabilities of their collisions with the Earth and other terrestrial planets were calculated. Based on the […]
Intense bombardment of solar system planets in the immediate aftermath of protoplanetary disk dissipation has played a key role in their atmospheric evolution.
Astronomical impacts by small solar system bodies (meteoroids, asteroids, comets, and transitional objects) are considered a mechanism for delivering amino acids and their polymerization to proteins in early Earth conditions.
Studies of micrometeorites in mid-Ordovician limestones and Earth’s impact craters indicate that our planet witnessed a massive infall of ordinary L chondrite material 466 million years (My) ago (Heck et […]
Planets are expected to conclude their growth through a series of giant impacts: energetic, global events that significantly alter planetary composition and evolution.
