SUNSET: 
Astronomers Watched a White Dwarf Turn into a Thermonuclear Fireball
Astronomers have spotted the X-ray flash that precedes a nova. The brief flare is the first sign of a white dwarf erupting into a nuclear-fusion fireball.
A Possible Optical Counterpart to a Fast Radio Burst?
What’s the mechanism behind millisecond-duration bursts of radio energy coming from outer space? A team searched for visible-light counterparts to constrain the origin of fast radio bursts — and found one.
Cocoons Around Dying Stars Could Explain New Type of Stellar Explosions
A recently discovered type of stellar explosion might fit right in among the spectrum from regular supernovae to massive gamma-ray bursts.
Pulsar Shoots 7-light-year-long Phaser Blast
Nature proves truth is still stranger than fiction: A pulsar has shot energetic particles in a thin, straight line that extends for light-years into space. The discovery might explain how antimatter makes its way to Earth.
The Black Hole Files with Camille Carlisle
“Closest Black Hole” Doesn’t Exist, After All
Astronomers combined forces to confirm that a black hole proposed to lie a mere 1,000 light-years away isn’t really there.
Fast Radio Burst's Unlikely Home Puzzles Astronomers
Astronomers have found a fast radio burst — presumably a flash from a young stellar remnant — amongst the ancient stars of a globular cluster, challenging ideas about what produces these enigmatic flashes.
Protostar Companions in Orion
How are stars born? One of the best places to test ideas about stellar birth is in Orion.
A Star Where It Shouldn't Be
There’s a massive star in our galaxy’s halo, far away from the usual star-forming haunts. How did it get there?
Exploring a Magnetospheric Origin for Fast Radio Bursts
Astronomers are starting to close in on the origins of fast radio bursts — powerful, fleeting flashes of radio waves seen at extragalactic distances.
The Flames of Orion and a Supergiant Star's End
Astronomers watch starbirth and stardeath, capturing a unique view of a stellar nursery and witnessing a supergiant's supernova.
Stellar Remnant at the Core of Mysterious Flash Dubbed "The Cow"
Astronomers have identified the origin of a mysterious flash that occurred three years ago.
Did Astronomers Spot a Black Hole in Another Galaxy? Maybe Not
Astronomers might have spotted a stellar-mass black hole in another galaxy — but not everyone agrees with what they found.
Close Companions Help Stars Make More Carbon
Massive stars can produce twice as much carbon when they have a close binary companion, according to a new study. The result is a small but important step in understanding the cosmic origin of elements.
Unlocking the History of Globular Cluster Messier 5
A new study uses precise measurements of chemical elements to explore the formation history of one of the oldest globular clusters in the Milky Way.
China’s FAST Observatory Sees More Than 1,000 Radio Bursts from a Single Spot
The largest haul of fast radio burst observations ever recorded, all from a single fast radio burst, is helping astronomers understand what causes these fleeting cosmic phenomena
Did Astronomers See a Distant, Dying Star? Or an Earth-bound Satellite?
What seemed a lucky break — the discovery of a gamma-ray burst in the most distant known galaxy — might instead be the flash of passing space debris. As satellites fill low-Earth orbit, such events might become common.
Supernova Blasts Hollowed Out "Giant Cavity" in Space
Some 10 million years ago, dying stars cleared a giant cavity in space and ultimately inspired a new generation of star formation.
60-second Astro News: Solving Supernova Mysteries
This week, astronomers have solved one supernova mystery and predicted a new one — to be solved in 2037.
New Kind of Supernova Implodes Stars Before Their Time
Astronomers have found the first circumstantial evidence for a supernova triggered by a merger with a neutron star or maybe even a black hole.
60-second Astro News: White Dwarfs Still Burn, Black Holes Merge
This week in astronomy news, we learn that some white dwarfs still burn and image X-rays from black holes almost 12 billion light-years away.