July features several rare astronomical events, including a Mars-Uranus conjunction on July 4 and Earth reaching aphelion on July 6. Stargazers can also observe lunar conjunctions with Saturn, Mars, and Venus, followed by a full moon and Jupiter’s solar conjunction on July 29, according to astronomical data from NASA and the College of Southern Idaho. … Read more
Uranus’ largest moons may not be ancient, primordial bodies but rather the result of at least two cycles of destruction and reassembly. According to a study published in the journal Icarus, the planet’s current moon system likely formed from the debris of previous satellites shattered by a massive planetary tilt and subsequent gravitational instability during … Read more
The Solar System’s Violent Past: Were There Once More Planets? Our solar system often feels like a clockwork mechanism, a steady, predictable dance of worlds around a central star. Yet, beneath this veneer of stability lies a history of profound violence. Recent dynamical simulations suggest that the current configuration of our giant planets—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus … Read more