41–60 of 471 results
Artist's concept of a first-generation star tearing itself apart

Stellar Science

Tentative Evidence of the First Generation of Stars

Scientists have detected something unusual around a distant quasar — perhaps the first real evidence of a first-generation star.

Regular rings of dust surround a brilliant central star

Stellar Science

Dance of Giant Stars Creates Ripples of Dust

Every time two giant stars swing around each other, they enrich the cosmos with complex organic molecules.

Map of stellar corpses throughout the galaxy

Milky Way

Astronomers Map the Milky Way's "Underworld"

A simulated map of the Milky Way shows the location of our galaxy's stellar corpses — and they're not where you might think they'd be.

Fast radio burst art

Stellar Science

New Observations Add Fuel to Fast Radio Burst Origin Debate

A peculiar repeating fast radio burst seems to be coming from a dynamic environment in an otherwise uninteresting region, leaving researchers scratching their heads as to the burst’s origin.

Orion Nebula by Webb

Professional Telescopes

Webb's Dazzling Views of the Orion Nebula

The James Webb Space Telescope has provided its first views of the Orion Nebula, revealing infant stars and the filaments that feed them.

Vega brilliance

Explore the Night with Bob King

Vega, the Star at the Center of Everything

While we may quibble about how to pronounce its name, there's no denying that Vega is one of the most fascinating and useful stars in the heavens.

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)

Stellar Science

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

Black Holes

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

Stellar Science

“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.