41–60 of 465 results
Betelgeuse lightcurve with artist's concept of mass ejection

Stellar Science

Betelgeuse's Great Dimming: The Aftermath

The Great Dimming occurred when Betelgeuse coughed out a huge chunk of material, and the ejection took a toll on the giant star.

Black widow pulsar

Stellar Science

Black Widow Pulsar Sets Mass Record

A pulsar has devoured enough of its stellar companion to grab the title for most massive known neutron star.

FRB heartbeat

Stellar Science

Radio “Heartbeat” Teases Fast Radio Burst Origins

Scientists have observed pulses from a fast radio burst, suggesting the flash might have come from a neutron star.

The quartet of stars that became a triple

Stellar Science

This Triplet of Stars Was Once a Quartet

Stellar mergers in quadruple systems might be common, a new study shows.

White dwarf surrounded by debris disk (art)

Exoplanets

A Strange White Dwarf with a Chaotic Past

New observations show that both rocky and icy worlds fell onto a white dwarf, indicating past orbital chaos in the system.

Gaia visualization of Milky Way

Space Missions

The Gaia Revolution: New Data and Strange Stars

Astronomers will use the newest data release from the Gaia mission to explore stellar tsunamis, Milky Way history, and more.

Stellar Science

An Unusual Source Deepens Fast Radio Burst Mysteries

A new source of fast radio bursts raises questions about how much we really know about these mysterious flares.

Centaurus A galaxy

Stellar Science

The Life and Times of Immortal Stars

Under the right conditions, stars could become immortal. How is this possible, and what does it mean for these stars’ surroundings?

rainbow with black lines marking where different atoms have absorbed wavelengths of light

Solar System

Mystery of the Sun's Chemical Makeup Lingers

Astronomers think they might have a solution to the conundrum of the Sun's chemical composition.

Nova illustration

Stellar Science

Astronomers Watched a White Dwarf Turn into a Thermonuclear Fireball

Astronomers have spotted the X-ray flash that precedes a nova. The brief flare is the first sign of a white dwarf erupting into a nuclear-fusion fireball.

FRB counterpart

Stellar Science

A Possible Optical Counterpart to a Fast Radio Burst?

What’s the mechanism behind millisecond-duration bursts of radio energy coming from outer space? A team searched for visible-light counterparts to constrain the origin of fast radio bursts — and found one.

Cocooned jets

Stellar Science

Cocoons Around Dying Stars Could Explain New Type of Stellar Explosions

A recently discovered type of stellar explosion might fit right in among the spectrum from regular supernovae to massive gamma-ray bursts.

Pulsar

Stellar Science

Pulsar Shoots 7-light-year-long Phaser Blast

Nature proves truth is still stranger than fiction: A pulsar has shot energetic particles in a thin, straight line that extends for light-years into space. The discovery might explain how antimatter makes its way to Earth.

big, bright, bluish star surrounded by a disk and near a second big, bright bluish star

Black Holes

“Closest Black Hole” Doesn’t Exist, After All

Astronomers combined forces to confirm that a black hole proposed to lie a mere 1,000 light-years away isn’t really there.

Globular cluster outside M81

Stellar Science

Fast Radio Burst's Unlikely Home Puzzles Astronomers

Astronomers have found a fast radio burst — presumably a flash from a young stellar remnant — amongst the ancient stars of a globular cluster, challenging ideas about what produces these enigmatic flashes.

Stellar Science

Protostar Companions in Orion

How are stars born? One of the best places to test ideas about stellar birth is in Orion.

HD 93521

Milky Way

A Star Where It Shouldn't Be

There’s a massive star in our galaxy’s halo, far away from the usual star-forming haunts. How did it get there?

Artist's illustration of a magnetar

Stellar Science

Exploring a Magnetospheric Origin for Fast Radio Bursts

Astronomers are starting to close in on the origins of fast radio bursts — powerful, fleeting flashes of radio waves seen at extragalactic distances.

Flame Nebula

Stellar Science

The Flames of Orion and a Supergiant Star's End

Astronomers watch starbirth and stardeath, capturing a unique view of a stellar nursery and witnessing a supergiant's supernova.

Compact object emits jets and ring of light in artist's concept of a supernova dubbed

Black Holes

Stellar Remnant at the Core of Mysterious Flash Dubbed "The Cow"

Astronomers have identified the origin of a mysterious flash that occurred three years ago.