SUNSET: 
Mini-Flares Might Threaten Life Around Red Dwarf Stars
A new study of data archived from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) spacecraft is revealing just how hard life might be on planets like those in the TRAPPIST-1 system.
Can We Explain the Curious Case of Tabby's Star?
New ideas have emerged to explain Tabby's Star, officially known as KIC 8462852, but the jury's still out on the cause of the star's weird behavior.
Homing in on the Source of a Mysterious Fast Radio Burst
Ground- and space-based observations have now shed intriguing new light on a mysterious radio source more than 3 billion light-years away.
Potential “Failed Supernova” Black Hole Discovered
Astronomers may have watched a star collapse directly into a black hole — minus the supernova. The failed supernova could help understand how stars die.
Brown Dwarfs Mimic Their Big Stellar Siblings
Two recent studies suggest that brown dwarfs, or so-called “failed stars,” are nevertheless more like stars than planets.
Finally! The Galaxy’s Most Mysterious Star Is Dimming
Tabby's star, otherwise known as the most mysterious star in the galaxy, is dipping drastically in brightness, giving astronomers an opportunity to figure out what has been causing this star's weird behavior.
ALMA Captures Stellar Fireworks in Orion
Stellar fireworks are what remains of a centuries-old explosion, the concussive consequence of four stars that came together in a gravitational tussle.
Stars Born in Galactic Wind
Astronomers have found newborn stars in gas pouring out of a galactic nucleus.
Runaway Star Points to Stellar Nursery Free-for-all
The discovery of a runaway star in Hubble's image of the Orion Nebula suggests a stellar tussle ejected three stars 540 years ago.
Seven-Planet Star Hides Age, Might Be Deadly
The star with seven exoplanets puts out enough high-energy radiation to tear away the inner planets’ atmospheres in a few billion years.
Happy 30th Birthday, Supernova 1987A
The first naked-eye supernova since the invention of the telescope lit up the global astronomy world on the morning of February 23, 1987, as news spread by phone and teletype. Supernova 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud eventually reached magnitude 2.9, before beginning a long fade and a cascade of…
Two Pulsars Blowing in the Wind
New images of two pulsars show beautiful, complex clouds of charged particles that illustrate the power dynamics in and around these spinning neutron stars.
Massive Stars Grow By Eating Finger Food
Astronomers don’t understand how the galaxy’s most massive stars form, but a new simulation sheds light on the process of stellar birth.
Proxima Centauri b Likely a Desert World
Astronomers suspect the Sun’s closest stellar neighbor desiccated its potentially rocky exoplanet, destroying the planet’s chances for habitability.
Paired Stars in Cygnus En Route to Merger
Astronomers suspect that a binary star system in Cygnus is preparing to make one star of two, erupting in a red nova visible to the naked eye.
Fast Radio Burst has a Surprising Source
For the first time, a team of astronomers has placed a fast radio burst on the cosmic map, allowing them to better pinpoint its mysterious origin.
Top 12 Astronomy News Stories of 2016
From the discovery of gravitational waves to the building evidence that a massive planet could exist beyond Pluto, it has been a thrilling year for astronomy research. We recap.
Did Betelgeuse Swallow Its Companion?
The red supergiant marking Orion's shoulder seems to be spinning too fast. Did it get a boost when merged with a smaller companion star 100,000 years ago?
"Brightest Supernova Ever" or Shredded Star?
An incredible blaze of light discovered more than a year ago still has astronomers baffled as to its cause - and the answer may be contrary to recent headlines.
Astronomers Discover Roundest Star
Asteroseismologists delving into the Kepler mission's data trove have found a star that appears to be more spherical than any natural object.
