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When our solar system's orbits all break down and planets are crashing into each other, we'll know exactly who's to blame: a tiny ball of rock called Mercury. Chaotic factors in Mercury's orbit could destabilize the whole solar system. More »
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Do you remember that one episode of Mythbusters, when they wanted to find out what would happen if two Earth-sized planets smashed into each other, so they called in some favors and got a solar system with two Earth-sized planets, smashed them together, then showed the awesome high-speed camera footage of it over and over? Me neither. But we can pretend it really happened, because scientists found a solar system littered with the remains of two shattered planets. Could it happen here? More »
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Two planets may have crashed together recently, resulting in one planet that's weirdly hot for its size. The planet 2M1207B, 170 light years from Earth, is 1300 degrees Celsius, despite being smaller than Saturn, judging from its infrared radiation. Young planets are generally hotter than older planets, but such a small planet should have cooled off quickly. So University of Arizona astronomers claim another planet crashed head-on into it, and gave us this action-packed reconstruction. [New Scientist] More »
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