Astronomers have found some of the strongest evidence yet that stars can swallow their own planets. A new study, published in Monthly Notices of the Astronomical Society, supports the long-held belief that young stars are capable of 'eating' nearby worlds as planetary systems form. Researchers from Keele University and the University of Exeter studied thousands of stars and found evidence that six different red dwarfs – the smallest, coolest, and most common type of star in the universe – had engulfed Earth-like rocky planets.

University of Warwick astronomers have found a new way to estimate the masses of planets hidden inside the dusty disks surrounding young stars.

Tiny sound waves inside the Sun unmask evidence of systematic changes in the solar activity cycle over the last 40 years – with implications for predicting space weather.

Researchers have developed a novel virtual model for simulating how astronauts in future Moon base operations might interact with each other and with their environment, with preliminary simulations revealing potential opportunities to boost the chances of a successful mission. Raymond Vera and colleagues at George Mason University in Virginia, USA, present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One on May 27, 2026.