Star Formation
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…
Protostars Can Siphon Material from Far Away
When stars are born, they do it inside a molecular cloud. Astronomers long assumed that the "crèche" supplied all the…
Feast Your Eyes on this Star-Forming Region, Thanks to the JWST
Nature is stingy with its secrets. That's why humans developed the scientific method. Without it, we'd still be ignorant and…
New Stars Forming Uncomfortably Close to the Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole
Astronomers examining a star cluster near Sgr A*, the Milky Way's supermassive black hole, found that the cluster has some…