Astronomy Physics

Planets with screwy orbits

Ever since astronomers started finding planets orbiting other stars, they have been learning just how rich and peculiar the cosmos can be. Recent observations. add yet another head-scratcher: giant gas planets that circle their stars on wildly tilted orbits or go around the wrong way altogether. Read all about it in this article from Discover, which ran in the November 2010 issue and was published on line in January.