Star Formation
Hubble Sees a Star About to Ignite
This is an image of the FS Tau multi-star system taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. The bright object at…
Webb Sees a Star-Forming Region Blowing Vast Bubbles
Star birth is a messy and chaotic event. Some of the process remains well hidden behind clouds of gas and…
This Galaxy Was Already Dead When the Universe Was Only 700 Million Years Old
When a galaxy runs out of gas and dust, the process of star birth stops. That takes billions of years.…
Even Stars Like the Sun Can Unleash Savage Flares in Their Youth
Why would a young Sun-like star suddenly belch out a hugely bright flare? That's what astronomers at Harvard Smithsonian Astrophysical…
The JWST Discovers a Galaxy That Shouldn’t Exist
Astronomers working with the JWST found a dwarf galaxy they weren't looking for. It's about 98 million years away, has…
Astronomers See Massive Stars Forming Together in Multiple Star Systems
All stars form in giant molecular clouds of hydrogen. But some stars are extraordinarily massive; the most massive one we…
The Oldest Known Spiral Galaxy Has Ripples Like the Surface of a Pond
Astronomers have detected pond-like ripples across the gaseous disk of an ancient galaxy. What caused the ripples, and what do…
JWST Sets a New Record, Sees Newly Forming Stars in the Triangulum Galaxy
Our Milky Way bristles with giant molecular clouds birthing stars. Based on what we see here, astronomers assume that the…
Three Baby Stars Found at the Heart of the Milky Way
The core of our Milky Way is buzzing with stars. Recently astronomers reported that it contains at least one ancient…
This Dark Nebula Hides an Enormous Star
The birth of a star is a spectacular event that plays out behind a veil of gas and dust. It's…