Collaborate Disseminate
In space, most orbiting objects will have circular- or elliptical-shaped orbits. But now, almost 30 years of observations has revealed that a star in the center of our galaxy orbits the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) in a rosette, or s… Continue reading Star spotted with spirograph orbit around supermassive black hole
Astronomers have spotted the brightest and most energetic supernova ever recorded. The event, known as SN2016aps, may have been the result of two stars merging and then exploding, before the dust had completely settled.Continue ReadingCategory: Space, … Continue reading Astronomers spot the brightest and most energetic supernova on record
The Hubble Space Telescope has captured a dazzling view of a stellar laboratory, which is being used by astronomers to understand how truly gargantuan stars come to form. The image features a colorful star field and a substructure of the famous Tarantu… Continue reading Hubble probes the birthplace of colossal stars in nearby galaxy
The light from stars isn’t steady, instead it tends to pulsate. This is usually uniform across the whole surface of the star, but now astronomers have discovered an object that only pulses on one side. That’s thanks to its teardrop shape, as a close bi… Continue reading Teardrop-shaped star only twinkles on one side
Astronomers have spotted a tiny, cool star putting on a stellar light show that would shame our Sun. This X-ray “superflare” was 10 times more powerful than anything the Sun can produce, and is completely unexpected for a star this small.Continue Readi… Continue reading Tiny, cool star fires off enormous X-ray superflare
Astronomers have detected a gravitational wave signal that appears to have been caused by a black hole swallowing a neutron star. Aside from being an incredible cosmic cataclysm to witness, this detection is important for another reason: it m… Continue reading Gravitational waves point to a black hole swallowing a neutron star
A galaxy seems like a hard thing to miss – let alone 39 of them – but that’s exactly what a team of astronomers has just discovered. So where have these countless stars been hiding? About 11.5 billion light-years away, in a part of the light … Continue reading Astronomers discover 39 ancient, massive galaxies hiding in invisible light
In about five billion years’ time, the Sun will grow into a red giant, probably swallowing the Earth and putting an end to any and all life that’s still kicking then. As this material is shed off, the Sun itself will become a small, dim, whit… Continue reading Astronomers hope to search for radio waves broadcast from dead planets orbiting dead stars
White dwarf stars have mostly been thought to follow very specific “rules” – if they’re over a certain mass limit, they’ll explode in a supernova with a very predictable brightness and time. But now Caltech astronomers have found a strange tw… Continue reading Ancient white dwarf explosions seem to disobey long-established "rules"
It’s almost a certainty that we’re not alone in the universe, but so far direct evidence has eluded us. While we have some idea about what kinds of signs to look for on other planets, many of these can also be created under natural processes…. Continue reading New NASA mission launch aims to reduce false-positives in search for life