New Gaia data is challenging a 50-year-old assumption about how stars and galaxies form
Astronomers found that star clusters do not always form the same balance of small and large stars, challenging…
Scientists find evidence of a rare double supernova in the Jellyfish Nebula
Astronomers found evidence that the Jellyfish Nebula, or IC 443, and the fainter remnant G189.6+3.3 may have formed…
Scientists Discover Two Strange Dead Stars That Defy Astronomical Expectations
Two exotic white dwarf merger remnants have been found to share a striking set of unusual properties, including…
The biggest black holes grow by crashing into each other over and over again
Some of the biggest black holes ever picked up through gravitational waves may not have formed in a…
Gravitational-wave constraints on the pair-instability mass gap and nuclear burning in massive stars
Gravitational-wave observations of binary black holes have opened a new window onto massive-star evolution1,2,3,4,5, but population inferences remain…
Gamma Cassiopeiae may be hiding a magnetic white dwarf companion
Visible without a telescope, γ Cassiopeiae has stood out for decades because it behaves unlike an ordinary massive…
Astronomers discover the first neutron star–black hole merger with an eccentric orbit
In 2020, astronomers discovered a violent cosmic event that has led them to rethink how extreme pairs of…
The dramatic transition of the extreme red supergiant WOH G64 to a yellow hypergiant
Meynet, G. & Maeder, A. Stellar evolution with rotation. X. Wolf–Rayet star populations at solar metallicity. Astron. Astrophys.…
Astronomers observe a massive star vanish and turn into a black hole
In the nearby Andromeda Galaxy, a massive star bright enough to stand out for years has gone dark.…
New images reveal an early-stage stellar eruption (nova) in stunning detail
A classical nova may look simple at first. A faint star brightens, sometimes enough for you to spot…
Betelgeuse’s Newfound Companion Star Keeps Breaking Astronomy Rules
A couple months back, astronomers officially confirmed the existence of “Betelbuddy,” Betelgeuse’s long-suspected companion star. Since then, researchers…
Could Alien Worlds Thrive Around Dead Stars?
White dwarf stars, like this one shown shrouded by a planetary nebula, are much smaller than stars like…