New simulations of a triple-star system in the constellation Orion suggest that a planet might be orbiting three stars, which could drastically increase the amount of the solar systems we believe are out there forming planets! And the...

We have new insights into the bizarre nature of lava planets, and the icy moon Europa may yet reveal some of her salty secrets.

Scientists have found at least three cycles in nature that can be traced back to the alignment of the planets. And while they won’t tell you anything about your love life or personality, by studying them, we can learn about our planet’s...

This video provides an overview of Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun. It highlights key facts such as its diameter, mass, moons, and orbit period. The video also explains the origin of Mars' name, its association with the God of War,...

In this video, the topic of discussion is the Kuiper Belt, a region in our solar system that extends from the orbit of Neptune. It is similar to the asteroid belt but much larger, and is home to three recognized dwarf planets, including...

Here it is, folks: the end. In our final episode of Crash Course Astronomy, Phil gives the course a send off with a look at some of his favorite topics and the big questions that Astronomy allows us to ask.

Do other planets have weather? It turns out that, yes, they do! But, the weather isn't all the same on other planets because of things like atmosphere. In this episode of Crash Course Kids, Sabrina takes us on a tour of the weather on...

From favorite moons to the search for alien life, astronomer Heidi Hammel discusses the latest in astronomy and the breakthrough innovations behind her work with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. In conversation with science journalist...

Extreme environments full of life on Earth have led researchers to expand the definition of habitability to something that includes many more planets, potentially leading us to evidence of living things in a dramatically shorter time!...

Hunting for rogue planets is like hunting for an invisible needle in a haystack. But we're getting a much clearer view thanks to gravitational microlensing surveys. And it looks like there are a LOT more of them out there than we thought.

This week on Crash Course: History of the Scientific Revolution—astronomical anomalies accrued. Meanwhile, in Denmark—an eccentric rich dude constructed not one but two science castles! And his humble German assistant synthesized a lot...

You'd think that two planets with similar stats, orbits, and parent stars would grow up to be pretty similar, but these twins have atmospheres that beg to differ.

Astronomers believe that every star in the galaxy has a planet, one fifth of which might harbor life. Only we haven't seen any of them -- yet. Jeremy Kasdin and his team are looking to change that with the design and engineering of an...

Every star we see in the sky has at least one planet orbiting it, says astronomer Sara Seager. So what do we know about these exoplanets, and how can we find out more? Seager introduces her favorite set of exoplanets and shows new...

Stellar astronomer and TED Senior Fellow Lucianne Walkowicz works on NASA's Kepler mission, searching for places in the universe that could support life. So it's worth a listen when she asks us to think carefully about Mars. In this...

The perfect balance of radioactive elements inside planets like ours might make it habitable, and researchers are challenging some ideas about how Mars is losing its water.

Hank tells us about the Kepler Space Telescope and its new data!

When stars die, they tend to take everything around them with them. But new evidence appears to show a planet orbiting a white dwarf, and we’re not sure how it survived! Plus, experiments designed to detect dark matter might be capable...

Earth has seasons, but what about the rest of the planets in the solar system? Let’s take a tour from Mercury to Pluto and see what seasons would be like on all our planetary neighbors. Bring a sweater!

Some tidally-locked exoplanets might actually be more habitable than astronomers initially thought, and we have some ideas about how Peter Pan disks can last so much longer than other protoplanetary disks.

Mercury’s path through our solar system is, well, a little eccentric, and some of its movements were a mystery astronomers couldn’t explain for a long time. Then, in the early 20th century, Einstein reran the numbers and proved a whole...

Some scientists believe that 3.6 billion years ago Earth might have been purple, and that theory is giving us some clues in our search for life in the universe.

Scientists may have found the light from two merging black holes, and a gas giant, without the gas.

How can we be so sure of the way celestial bodies behave when they're so far away? With the help of some speakers, garbage cans, and springs of course.