441–460 of 471 results

Stellar Science

Surprising Trove of Gamma-Ray Pulsars

Pulsars flash in radio, but some of them flash a lot more powerfully in gamma rays, due to different processes happening in different places around them.

Stellar Science

Fast-Forming Planets

Around newborn stars, Jupiters seem to grow quicker than expected.

Cassiopeia A supernova remnant

Stellar Science

Fly Through a Supernova Remnant in 3-D

Astronomers have figured out the three-dimensional structure of Cassiopeia A, an expanding supernova remnant. From this, it looks like the star blew up in two parts.

Stellar Science

The Mystery of the Missing Brown Dwarfs

Fewer of these dim, glowing coals exist than astronomers once expected. And in particular, they shy away from associating with normal stars.

Stellar Science

Tycho's Supernova in Reruns

436-year-old light echoes give a look today at a blast in the Renaissance past. The catch? They're only a twenty-billionth as bright as the original.

Stellar Science

Betelgeuse is Making Waves

The famously red supergiant star that marks Orion's shoulder is creating an enormous shock wave as it plows through the interstellar medium. New infrared views from a Japanese space observatory called Akari show what's going on with unprecedented clarity.

Stellar Science

NASA Satellite Spots New Type of Pulsar

The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has made its first major discovery.

Stellar Science

The Sun Goes Round and (Less) Round

Incredibly precise measurements of the solar surface show that our star isn't quite as spherical as once thought.

Stellar Science

Is This an Alien Planet?

Last April a trio of astronomers spotted something dim, warm, and perplexing next to a not-too-distant star in northern Scorpius.

Stellar Science

Eta Carinae: A Supermassive Showoff

An enormous and famously erratic star in the southern sky might have demonstrated a new kind of stellar explosion during its dazzling eruption in the 1840s.

Stellar Science

Double-Barrel Blast

A gamma-ray burst detected on March 19th was so bright it could be seen with the naked eye. And now astronomers think they know why.

Milky Way

Eta Carinae Prepares for X-ray Crash

Known for its mysteriousness, one of the galaxy's most massive stars gears up for its periodic pundit-perplexing event. Will Eta Carinae finally reveal its secrets?

circuit board

People, Places, and Events

Artificial Intelligence Aids Astronomers

Astronomers have designed a neural network that can determine the particulars of binary star systems by just examining their light curves — and it can do it really, really fast.

Stellar Science

Faint Supernovae Remain Unexplained

A subclass of supernovae that fades much faster than expected reveals possible kinks in astronomers' theories of what causes these explosions.

brown dwarf binary

Stellar Science

Brown-Dwarf Binary Tests Theories

Recent calculations for a pair of failed stars add to astronomers' scant knowledge of brown dwarfs and will help set a reference point for future studies.

Stellar Science

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?

Milky Way

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.

Milky Way

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.

Stellar Science

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.

Stellar Science

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.