SUNSET: 
Stars Form in Turbulent Times
New images of four circumstellar disks suggest that the star formation process is much more violent than previously thought.
Old Stars' Fossil Fields
Astronomers have confirmed that strong magnetic fields are frozen in place deep inside aging stars called red giants.
Brightest Supernova Baffles Astronomers
The most luminous supernova ever discovered, ASASSN-15lh, challenges a popular theory for blazingly bright exploding stars.
Spotting "Twins" of Superstar Eta Carinae
Astronomers looking for clones of a massive and famously unstable star in the Southern Hemisphere sky have found five in other galaxies.
New Clues in Cooking up Planets and Stars
An early peak at a forming star system reveals tantalizing clues about its origin.
Telltale Shock Waves from Runaway Stars
Astronomers are now finding dozens of fast-moving runaway stars by searching for the bow shocks they create in interstellar gas and dust.
Astronomers Predict a Supernova
For the first time, astronomers have predicted the appearance of a supernova.
Newborn Star Puts on Star Wars Show
Infrared observations by the Hubble Space Telescope reveal jets from forming stars.
New Star and Exoplanet Names OK'd by IAU
Following a wildly popular contest, the International Astronomical Union has named 14 stars and 31 planets that orbit them.
Simulation Sees Supernova Innards
A new computer simulation provides a brief glimpse at what makes stellar bombs tick.
The Origin of Massive Stars
High-mass stars may outshine and outweigh the Sun, but observations show all stars may have had a similar beginning.
Astronomers Take Galaxy’s Pulse
Astronomers have caught a giant elliptical galaxy “shimmering” as its stars pulsate.
Pulsars' Gamma Rays Highlight Mysteries
The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has discovered that almost all of the highest energy photons in the Large Magellanic Cloud come from two pulsars.
Seeing Spots on a Red Giant Star
Astronomers have gathered enough observations to produce an exquisite image of another star’s surface.
The Inner Workings of Red Giant Stars
New research connects stellar pulsations to these stars’ inner, unobservable magnetic fields.
The Curious Case of KIC 8462852
The Kepler spacecraft recorded a bunch of irregular dimmings around one of its target stars, designated KIC 8462852. No natural phenomenon explains the dips well.
October's Unpredictable Draconid Meteors
Watch for any slow, unusual meteors starting at nightfall tonight and tomorrow.
White Dwarf Stars with Hiccups
Observations of two cool white dwarfs show irregular outbursts in the stars’ otherwise steady rhythm of pulsations.
Twin Stars Simplify Distance Measurements
A new technique that relies on identifying stellar twins yields a novel way to measure the distances to stars.
Astronomy in Space with David Dickinson
Amateurs Help Discover Rare Eclipsing Binary
A collaboration of amateur and professional astronomers has uncovered a rare variety of eclipsing binary star - and a supernova in the making.
