The workings of our solar system are roughly the same now as they have been for millions of years. Moons circle their planets, the planets circle the sun, the sun’s magnetic fields and sunspots wax ...

The following is an extract from our monthly Launchpad newsletter, which explores the solar system and beyond. You can sign up for Launchpad for free here. There is no better place to start explaining ...

Some 4.6 billion years ago, when the solar system was born from a vast cloud that collapsed to form the sun and a surrounding disk of whirling gas, no planets yet orbited our star. Back then, besides ...