The cosmos is a void dotted with stars and an ever-increasing number of newly-observed planets beyond our solar system. Yet, how these stars and planets formed out of clouds of interstellar dust and ...

Researchers have developed a laboratory to simulate comets in space-like conditions. The goal of the Comet Physics Laboratory is to understand the internal structure of comets, as well as how their ...

“Without this dynamic process, stars would not form, and planets and even humankind would not exist,” explained Ji, one of the lead researchers on the project and a principal investigator at PPPL. “It ...

When triggered by some external agent, shockwaves can propagate through molecular clouds of gas and dust to create pockets of dense material. At a certain limit, that dense gas and dust collapses and ...

Click to share on X (Opens in new window) Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Click to ...

WASHINGTON, November 3, 2021 -- Comets are icy and dusty snowballs of material that have remained relatively unchanged since they first formed billions of years ago. Studying the small bodies provides ...