SUNSET: 
Star-Shredder's Brief Pulse
A supermassive black hole spotted last year as it ripped a star apart and spat out a jet had another surprise up its sleeve: a short-lived X-ray heartbeat seen only once before from a galaxy’s central beast.
Galaxy Zoo's Odd Black Holes
Citizen scientists are helping astronomers understand how galaxies and their resident supermassive black holes grow.
Black Holes Might Form Like Planets
Astronomers have plenty of evidence for small and large black holes, but have had little luck tracking down the mid-sized variety. One team of researchers suggests the search has been focused on the wrong places all along.
Andromeda Galaxy’s Odd Double Core
A new study simulating stars as they orbit a black hole might provide the best explanation for how our nearest spiral galaxy neighbor grew its lopsided nucleus.
Small Planets’ Evolutionary Edge
The discovery that planets can form around a variety of stars — and not just specific types, as previously thought — might open the floodgates on the search for habitable worlds in the galaxy.
WISE Identifies Mystery Sources
Astronomers are using infrared observations from NASA's WISE spacecraft to identify sources seen at energies a million times greater. The work may help astronomers figure out whether they've detected unknown cosmic phenomena.
Far-out Black Hole Hints
“Star cities” orbiting galaxies may reveal the mass of the gargantuan black hole hidden deep in the galaxy’s heart. The new relation could be more evidence for a large-scale black hole-galaxy link — or, it could mean one of the latest revolutions in astrophysics isn’t the full story.
Colorful Cluster Transformation
Astronomers have spotted a unique galaxy cluster at a surprisingly far distance from Earth. The close mixing of lively and “red-and-dead” galaxies suggests an important transitional period in galaxy cluster evolution — when star formation shuts off.
WISE's Grand View of the Infrared Sky
In just 10 months during 2010, an orbiting observatory meticulously recorded a "heat map" of the entire celestial sphere, revealing unseen beauty in the Milky Way and providing astronomers with a catalog of more than a half billion celestial objects.
The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs
Two teams of astronomers have independently announced the detection of a dwarf galaxy being eaten by another dwarf galaxy, NGC 4449. Seen in this image as a faint swipe of red stars, the satellite will probably be shredded after only a few orbits of its host, adding its stars to that galaxy's collection.
Galaxy in a Bucket
A tiny lab experiment could provide additional evidence for how galaxies come by their magnetic fields. The physics isn't new, but that's part of the allure.
Black Hole Breakfast En Route
Astronomers have discovered a dusty, stretched-out cloud heading for the supermassive black hole lurking in the Milky Way's core. The blob could be the meal the beast needs to wake up for a bit from its slumber, if the cloud survives its incoming trip on the dining cart.
Amateur Discovers A Planetary Nebula
Austrian amateur Matthias Kronberger has found a planetary nebula near the northern constellation of Cygnus, the Swan. His discovery might help scientists understand the role of stellar companions in the formation of these glowing gas clouds.
Rethinking Galaxies
Edwin Hubble's tuning-fork diagram has helped astronomers classify galaxies for more than 70 years. But recent research shows that it might be time for a makeover — to a "comb" diagram.
The Earliest Black Holes
Combining data from the deepest images ever taken in visual/infrared wavelengths and X-rays, astronomers have discovered some of the earliest black holes in the universe.
Best-yet Value for Universe's Expansion
A new study with the Hubble Space Telescope pins down the universe's expansion rate with unprecedented accuracy.
A Galaxy when Galaxies Were Young
News media worldwide are reporting today on the new "farthest galaxy ever found," but the discovery is not quite as definite as it’s being made out.
The Most Distant Galaxy Cluster
Many instruments working together have profiled a baby galaxy group, seen not long after the Big Bang, of the kind that probably evolved into our Milky Way.
A Black Hole “Too Big” For Its Galaxy
A lightweight little dwarf galaxy with no central bulge has a supermassive black hole half as heavy as the Milky Way's. How did that happen?
Draw Some Bubbles, Help Astronomy
A fun and colorful new citizen-science effort has been launched to spot and flag star-forming regions throughout our galaxy.
