A Quarter of Stars Like Our Sun Eat Their Own Planets
How rare is our Solar System? In the 30 years or so since planets were first discovered orbiting stars other than our Sun, we have…
Astrophysics
Supernova Requiem: Rerun of Massive Blast From Exploding Star Expected To Appear in 2037
Giant Galaxy Cluster Magnifies the Light from a Distant Supernova and Splits It into Multiple Images People over the centuries haven’t been shy about making…
Spacecraft in Sun’s Backyard Unravels the Origins of Interplanetary Dust
Scientists using data from NASA’s Parker Solar Probe have assembled the most complete picture yet of the inner structure and behavior of the large cloud…
Hubble Captures the Final Acts of a Monster Star
This comparison view shows puffing dust bubbles and an erupting gas shell — the final acts of a monster star. You can explore the detail…
Magnetic Properties of Star-Forming Dense Cores – The Last Piece in the Puzzle of Star Formation
Magnetic fields in space are sometimes called the last piece in the puzzle of star formation. They are much harder to measure than the masses…
Astrophysicists Spot an Exoplanet With the Potential To Form Moons
New high-resolution observations clearly show a moon-forming region around exoplanet PDS 70c. The observations have allowed astronomers to determine the ring-shaped region’s size and mass…
Physicists’ Total Surprise: Discover Black Holes Exert a Pressure on Their Environment
Physicists at the University of Sussex have discovered that black holes exert a pressure on their environment, in a scientific first. In 1974 Stephen Hawking…
Red vs. Blue: Astronomers Nail Down the Origins of Rare Loner Dwarf Galaxies
The results provide a blueprint for finding such systems in the universe’s quieter, emptier regions. By definition, dwarf galaxies are small and dim, with just…
Ground-Breaking High-Frequency Gravitational Wave Detector Reports Rare Events
A ground-breaking detector that aims to use quartz to capture high-frequency gravitational waves has been built by researchers at the ARC Centre of Excellence for…
Astronomers Uncover Origin of Elusive Ultradiffuse Galaxies
UC Riverside astronomer and colleagues use simulations to reveal how the very faint dwarf galaxies are born. As their name suggests, ultradiffuse galaxies, or UDGs,…
Surprise: The Composition of Gases and Metals in the Milky Way Are Not As Expected
Astronomers from the UNIGE have observed the composition of the gases in our galaxy and have shown that, contrary to the models established until now,…
Astronomers Find Super-Fast Rotation of Baby Star’s Jet
It is known that gas jets are ejected from a baby star, but it was not clear how the jets are formed. By observing the…
Hubble Find Surprises Astronomers: White Dwarfs Can Still Undergo Stable Thermonuclear Activity
Could dying stars hold the secret to looking younger? New evidence from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope suggests that white dwarfs could continue to burn…
Cosmic Rays – Originating From Supernova Remnants and Pulsars – May Be Key to Understanding Galactic Dynamics
Speedy cosmic rays, originating from supernova remnants and pulsars, likely impact galactic dynamics and star formation far more than previously known. Cosmic rays are charged…
A Black Hole Triggers a Premature Supernova – First Observation of a Brand-New Kind of Supernova
The first observation of a brand-new kind of supernova had been predicted by theorists but never before confirmed. In 2017, a particularly luminous and unusual…
How Special Are We? New Clues to the Formation of Our Solar System
Nearby star-forming region yields clues to the formation of our solar system. The radioactive elements could have been blown onto the nascent solar system by…
Stellar Collision Triggers Supernova Explosion – “This Is the First Time We’ve Actually Seen Such an Event”
Astronomers have found dramatic evidence that a black hole or neutron star spiraled its way into the core of a companion star and caused that…
Astronomers Discover a Strangely Shaped Spot on the Surface of a Baby Star 450 Million Light-Years Away
What a Young Star Can Teach Us About the Birth of Our Planet, Sun, and Solar System Astronomers have discovered a strangely shaped spot on…