Stellar companion strips outer layers from massive star (art)

Stellar Science

Close Companions Help Stars Make More Carbon

Massive stars can produce twice as much carbon when they have a close binary companion, according to a new study. The result is a small but important step in understanding the cosmic origin of elements.

Image of a pinwheel of dust around a massive star

Stellar Science

Glowing Serpent Found in the Sky

Astronomers have discovered a star generating a pinwheel of dust 8,000 lightyears away, which may shed some light on the last stages of massive star evolution.

Dusty starburst galaxy (art)

Stellar Science

Too Many Massive Stars in Universe's Youngest Galaxies

A new method of measuring star formation in the earliest galaxies finds that they’re producing more massive stars than expected — a result that could affect our understanding of how galaxies grow their stars.

Simulated massive star formation

Stellar Science

Massive Stars Grow By Eating Finger Food

Astronomers don’t understand how the galaxy’s most massive stars form, but a new simulation sheds light on the process of stellar birth.

Zeta Ophiuchi's shock wave

Stellar Science

Telltale Shock Waves from Runaway Stars

Astronomers are now finding dozens of fast-moving runaway stars by searching for the bow shocks they create in interstellar gas and dust.

Stellar Science

The Most Distant Star Ever Seen?

Astronomers have detected what might be the farthest star ever spectroscopically observed. The bright object blazes in an unusual location, too, perhaps giving insight into star formation in unconventional environments.