Moon-size White Dwarf Is the Smallest Ever Found
Astronomers have discovered a white dwarf only slightly bigger than the Moon, making it the smallest ever found. It might even be on the edge of collapse.
The Giant Star That "Blinked"
Astronomers are trying to understand why a giant star "blinked," fading almost completely before brightening again over the course of about 200 days.
Number of Known Mysterious Radio Flashes Nearly Quadruples
The CHIME telescope has released its first catalog with 492 unique sources of fast radio bursts, the brief flashes of radio waves that have been intriguing astronomers over the past decade.
Metal-poor Stars Shed Light on the Origin of Gold
Explosions of massive stars might have produced gold and other rare heavy elements observed in metal-poor stars in our galaxy’s halo.
Fast Radio Bursts Tied to Spiral Arms
New Hubble observations have pinned five enigmatic radio bursts to the arms of spiral galaxies, narrowing down possible explanations.
Nova in Cassiopeia Brightens Suddenly
A star in the constellation Cassiopeia that flared into view during mid-March has erupted to naked-eye visibility. Catch it while you can!
What’s Inside Neutron Stars?
Size measurements of two neutron stars have narrowed down what kinds of exotic matter might exist in their extremely dense cores.
Proxima Centauri Releases Powerful Flare
The Sun dwarfs its nearest stellar neighbor, but Proxima Centauri's flares pack a comparatively energetic punch.
Crab Pulsar's Mystery Bursts Are Even More Powerful Than We Thought
The Crab Nebula pulsar has sporadically bursted for decades. Now, astronomers have found these mysterious bursts release even more energy than thought.
Bright Nova Erupts in Cassiopeia
A new nova in Cassiopeia, discovered on March 18th, is bright enough to see in a small telescope.
A Map of a Stellar Explosion
Scientists may have discovered a clue to how massive stars form in the Orion Nebula and a stellar birthplace.
Star-shredding Black Hole Makes Ghostlike Particle
A single high-energy neutrino may shed light on a star being swallowed by a supermassive black hole some 690 million light-years away.
Measuring Solar Eruptions with a Rare Alignment
New analysis of a coronal mass ejection detected by the alignment of two spacecraft reveals that it experienced erosion and restructuring as it traveled.
Masquerading Magnetars Make Short Brilliant Bursts
Giant flares emitted from the surface of highly magnetized neutron stars could explain some gamma-ray flashes astronomers have caught over the past few decades.
Astronomers Find Most Distant Gamma-ray Burst Yet
From the farthest-known galaxy in the observable universe comes the brightest and most energetic of events: a possible gamma-ray burst.
Gaia Makes Most Accurate 3D Map of the Milky Way Yet
Astronomers have released a new, extremely detailed three-dimensional census of our Milky Way galaxy.
The Decline of the Youngest Planetary Nebula
The youngest planetary nebula ever found is already fading, shedding light on its star's evolution.
The Eventual Fate of Our Solar System
Have you ever wondered about the future of our solar system? Astronomers have predicted the effect of the Sun's expansion on its planets.
Gamma-ray Flash Heralds Birth of a Magnetar
What happens when two neutron stars don't add up to a black hole?
The Case of the Blue Ring Nebula
After 16 years, astronomers have figured out the origin of a strange ring of ultraviolet light, and shed light on a common — but rarely observed — event.