Stars | Astronomy.com

This distant star is about to die — and astronomers caught it in close-up

Mark Zastrow — Thu, 05 Dec 2024 17:42:14 +0000

After years of effort, astronomers at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) announced they managed to capture the first closeup image of a star beyond our galaxy. This remarkable achievement offers more than just stunning visuals — it provides a rare glimpse into the final moments of a star that will inevitably explode as a spectacularContinue reading "This distant star is about to die — and astronomers caught it in close-up"

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This famous black hole system is actually a triple

Daniela Mata — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 16:00:00 +0000

Despite their destructive forces, black holes are often seen in with a companion, such as a star, neutron star, white dwarf, or even another black hole. However, a study published Oct. 23 in Nature has found that the black hole binary system V404 Cygni, which contains a black hole and a small star, has anContinue reading "This famous black hole system is actually a triple"

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Bringing the Sun to light

Sten Odenwald — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 13:00:00 +0000

For thousands of years, humans have worshipped the Sun. Our ancestors built monuments and temples to it, and used it to mark the annual cycle of seasons. For ancient Egyptians, their most important god, Re, was the personification of the Sun itself. Today, we are no less in thrall to the wonders and mysteries ofContinue reading "Bringing the Sun to light"

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Watch a zombie star feed on its companion

Daniela Mata — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 13:00:00 +0000

“Watch out for rambunctious stars. They are trouble,” says Astronomy Editor David Eicher. The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) just published a new photograph showing the stunning masterpiece that is R Aquarii, lying about 700 light-years away in the constellation Aquarius the Water-bearer. It is an uncommon type of binary star system displaying chaotic behavior andContinue reading "Watch a zombie star feed on its companion"

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Astronomers find out the first known brown dwarf is actually twins

Alison Klesman — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 15:00:00 +0000

In 1995, a parallel race was on in astronomy — one to find the first planet beyond our own solar system, and the other to find the first brown dwarf, a class of object too heavy to be a planet, but below the mass of a star. Astronomers ended up publishing the discovery of theContinue reading "Astronomers find out the first known brown dwarf is actually twins"

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Is this black hole jet making stars explode?

Daniela Mata — Fri, 25 Oct 2024 19:33:48 +0000

Supernovae, the violent explosions that occur when stars die, normally happen sporadically within galaxies. However, by shifting the angle of the Hubble Space Telescope’s line of sight toward M87, astronomers recently spotted double the expected amount of supernovae along a massive 3,000-light-year-long jet blasting out of the supermassive black hole at the galaxy’s center. ResearchersContinue reading "Is this black hole jet making stars explode?"

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Betelgeuse may have a Betelbuddy

Korey Haynes — Fri, 25 Oct 2024 16:26:32 +0000

The bright red supergiant star Betelgeuse has long been a familiar sight for star watchers, winking with a ruddy glow from the shoulder of Orion the Hunter. But it’s also an increasingly popular target for professional astronomers thanks to its scientific peculiarities, ranging from pulsations to mysterious dimming events. Now, astronomers think they may haveContinue reading "Betelgeuse may have a Betelbuddy"

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Is AI the key to predicting solar storms?

Alison Klesman — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 16:00:00 +0000

On Sept. 1, 1859, the most intense geomagnetic storm in recorded history paid Earth a visit. This colossal solar outburst, which led to telegraph systems catching fire and aurorae lighting up skies down to the tropics, became known as the Carrington Event, in honor of English amateur astronomer Richard Carrington, who determined that a majorContinue reading "Is AI the key to predicting solar storms?"

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What gives stars their colors?

shill — Thu, 19 Sep 2024 13:00:00 +0000

When we think of color in the night sky, we often think of beautiful images of galaxies and nebulae. Unfortunately, most of the time, their faint, diffuse light shows no color to our human eyes. Stars, on the other hand, have more concentrated light, and there we can see color — even with the nakedContinue reading "What gives stars their colors?"

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’Starry Night’ captures the turbulent physics of why stars twinkle

Randall Hyman — Tue, 17 Sep 2024 18:54:48 +0000

Turbulence abounds in nature, from the spinning whorls of hurricanes to the brilliant swirls of Jupiter’s immense storms. Astronomers have even observed it where stars are born in the vast maelstrom of molecular clouds. But much as scientists have tried, no single theory has ever captured the full scale and unpredictability of turbulence. Nobel laureateContinue reading "’Starry Night’ captures the turbulent physics of why stars twinkle"

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