A young solar system does not just build planets from dust and gas. It can also be shaped by what happens nearby, including the death of a massive star. New research suggests that a supernova at the right distance could quietly change a planet’s ingredients from the start, and that this setup may be more common than scientists once assumed.

For nearly a century, astronomers have been convinced that most of the universe is made of something we can’t see. Now, fresh analysis of data from a NASA space telescope suggests we may have caught our first real glimpse of it

Astronomers have directly observed a planet in the act of forming around a youthful analogue of the Sun, offering a rare look at how giant worlds assemble.

It may sound like the plot of a sci-fi film reaching a black hole with a spacecraft, but it turns out that the idea may not be that outlandish.

Astronomers have detected complex organic molecules in a disc of gas and dust surrounding a young star. - This discovery raises a fascinating possibility: the building blocks of life might have formed in space long before planets like Earth even existed.