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A Star Became 1,000 Times Brighter, and Now Astronomers Know Why

Astronomers were surprised in 1937 when a star in a binary pair suddenly brightened by 1,000 times. The pair is…

5 months ago

Seeing the Moment Planets Start to Form

Nature makes few duplicates, and planets are as distinct from one another as snowflakes are. But planets all start out…

1 year ago

Is it Life, or is it Volcanoes?

Astronomers are working hard to understand biosignatures and how they indicate life's presence on an exoplanet. But each planet we…

1 year ago

If a Planet Has a Lot of Methane in its Atmosphere, Life is the Most Likely Cause

The ultra-powerful James Webb Space Telescope will launch soon. Once it's deployed, and in position at the Earth-Sun Lagrange Point…

4 years ago

Giant Planet May Be Lurking In ‘Poisonous’ Gas Around Beta Pictoris

A Saturn-mass planet might be lurking in the debris surrounding Beta Pictoris, new measurements of a debris field around the…

11 years ago

More Surprises From Pluto

[/caption] Ah, Pluto. Seems every time we think we've got it figured out, it has a new surprise to throw…

13 years ago