SUNSET: 
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.
