SUNSET: 
Regulus’s Secret Companion
Astronomers confirm a low-mass star orbits the Lion’s heart, the bright blue star imaged here to the lower right. But what exactly is it?
The Most Massive Star Yet?
Searching the core of one of the densest young star clusters in the Milky Way, scientists may have beat out primetime TV in the search for the newest big star.
Predicting a Stellar Catastrophe
Observations made by professional and amateur astronomers during the upcoming, once-in-a-generation eclipse of Epsilon Aurigae may reveal whether or not the star is heading for extinction.
Puny Star's Big Flare Wows Astronomers
While a NASA satellite looked on, last month a red dwarf in Lacerta erupted with a titanic — and unexpected — burst of energy.
Supernova Caught at its Very Start
By an unbelievable stroke of luck, X-ray astronomers catch the first minutes of a supernova explosion. You wouldn't have wanted to be there.
How Type-Ia Supernovae Work: The Movie
You thought an exploding star would be simple? Hah.
Polaris's Pulsations Pick Up
The North Star, slightly variable in brightness, continues to confound expectations.
The First Type-Y Star?
It's the coolest brown dwarf yet, and it seems to be in a spectral class of its own.
Standard-Candle Supernova Confusion
Type 1a supernovas are crucial for measuring how the expansion of the universe has been changing. But no one knows for sure exactly what they are.
A Magnetar in Sheep's Clothing
A run-of-the-mill pulsar throws off its cloak of normalcy and displays its extraordinary nature.
An Ingenious, Super-Good Cepheid Distance
Using a star's pulsations, their reflections, and some simple geometry, European astronomers have set a new record for the best-known distance to a crucial kind of star.
A Superfast Star from Far, Far Away
The latest "hypervelocity star" that astronomers are puzzling over didn't even start in our own galaxy.
A Neutron Star's Hard Core
Astronomers have found some pulsars that appear unusually massive, calling into question our understanding of neutron-star interiors.
The Orion Nebula, Exactly?
Radio astronomers succeed where others have failed to pin down the distance to a great showpiece of the night sky.
Our Sun's Twin
A faint but observable star in Draco is the closest match yet to the one at the center of our solar system.
New Route to a Supernova
A distant supernova erupted with signs that it marked the death of not one star, but two.