SUNSET: 
All-Sky Survey Sees Millions of Stars
A collaboration between professional and amateur astronomers is producing a careful map of stellar brightnesses and colors across the entire night sky. The survey should fill a hole that sometimes hampers quick, accurate measurements of events such as supernovae.
Failed Stars Oddly Rare
Astronomers hunting for brown dwarfs in our solar neighborhood have been thrown a surprise: these star wannabes are far less common than previously thought.
M31 to Hit Milky Way Head-On
If anyone's still around 4 billion years from now, they'll have a ringside seat for a true clash of titans, as the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies smash into each other and merge.
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.
How Many Rogue Planets Are There in the Milky Way?
A new analysis suggests that "nomad" planets, ejected from their home stellar systems and now adrift in the icy dark of interstellar space., could outnumber stars by as many as 100,000 to 1.
Black Hole Shoots Bullets
Observations of a black hole that spat out twin blobs of superhot material may help astronomers understand how the mysterious beasts create powerful jets that shoot out from their poles. The blobs appeared just as the system went quiet in X-rays.
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.
Another Origin for Cosmic Rays
Recent gamma-ray observations support the longstanding theory that superspeedy particles called cosmic rays have their origin in the havoc-ridden regions around young star clusters.
Cygnus X-1, Exactly
Astronomers have pinned down the distance, mass, and spin rate for the first black hole candidate discovered, information that points to a birth sans supernova.
"Blue Stragglers" Renewed by Stealing
Some deceptively youthful stars may find their fountains of youth in material they grab off other stars.
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.
Neutron Star Gobbles Gas, Burps X-rays
Astronomers have observed a neutron star flaring to 10,000 times its original brightness.
Oddball Stars in the Milky Way's Heart
The first blue stragglers identified in the Milky Way’s bulge pose a question: why do they look so young?
A Milky Way Masterpiece
Using a deceptively simple setup, Randy Halverson has captured the galaxy's motion across his South Dakota farm with breathtaking beauty and realism.
The Milky Way's New Arm
Astronomers have struggled for decades to discern our galaxy's true shape. But they're slowly getting the picture, thanks to the discovery of a long arm that traces the grand spiral to its outer limits.
Do Planets Outnumber Stars?
Just-released observations suggest that the Milky Way could teem with hundreds of billions of free-floating planets.
A Runaway Star with a Story To Tell
Now streaking away in the Milky Way's outermost halo, HE 0437-5439 had a very close run-in with the galaxy's central black hole. And that was just the beginning.
The Milky Way's Killer Instincts
Don't let its graceful spiral form fool you: our home galaxy is a cannibal. It's long been accused of having gobbled up smaller dwarf galaxies in its vicinity — and two new observations make an ironclad case for the prosecution.
Supernovae: Cosmic-Ray Superfactories
Now we know for sure. The cosmic-ray particles that bombard Earth from deep space originate in very exotic places: the shock waves in supernova remnants.
The Lost Siblings of the Sun
The Sun and solar system formed 4.6 billion years ago amid a rich cluster of other newborn stars. Where are they now?
