Stars
The Hubble and FU Orionis: a New Look at an Old Mystery
In 1936 astronomers watched as FU Orionis, a dim star in the Orion constellation, brightened dramatically. The star's brightness increased…
The First Close-Up Picture of Star Outside the Milky Way
Like a performer preparing for their big finale, a distant star is shedding its outer layers and preparing to explode…
Main Sequence and White Dwarf Binaries are Hiding in Plain Sight
Some binary stars are unusual. They contain a main sequence star like our Sun, while the other is a "dead"…
Up to a Third of Stars Ate Some of their Planets
In recent years, astronomers have developed techniques to measure the metal content of stars with extreme accuracy. With that capability,…
Habitable Worlds are Found in Safe Places
When we think of exoplanets that may be able to support life, we hone in on the habitable zone. A…
TESS Finds a Triple Star System that Could Fit within Mercury’s Orbit
TESS, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite has been on the lookout for alien worlds since 2018. It has just hit…
Plants Would Still Grow Well Under Alien Skies
Photosynthesis changed Earth in powerful ways. When photosynthetic organisms appeared, it led to the Great Oxygenation Event. That allowed multicellular…
A Star Was Kicked Out of a Globular Cluster by an Intermediate-Mass Black Hole
Astronomers have solid evidence for the existence of stellar-mass black holes and supermassive black holes. However, evidence for Intermediate Black…
High Resolution Images Show Bubbling Gas on the Surface of Another Star
Although stars are enormous, they're extremely far away, and appear as point sources in telescopes. Usually, you never get to…
Polaris, Earth’s North Star, Has A Surprisingly Spotted Surface
Humanity's been fortunate to have a star situated over Earth's north pole. The star, known as Polaris, or the North…