Astronomers are now regularly detecting planets thousands of light years from Earth – but have we missed one in our own Solar System?

As an astronomer, I collect stars. There are several hundred billion of them in our Galaxy, the Milky Way, so it’s important to find a way to categorise them. While others might rank their stars by co

How many planets are there in the Solar System? It sounds like an easy question, but it’s more complex than you might think – and actually it’s one we still can’t answer. With scientists finding evide

An artist’s impression of Cha 1107-7626 accreting material ...

Although it’s by no means certain, scientists are slowly accumulating evidence that life once existed on the Red Planet

We humans are always wondering whether we’re alone in the Universe. But what if we are one of a long line of species that were around long before our planet even existed? This intriguing idea, that li