Supernovae
Hypervelocity Neutron Stars Crashing Into White Dwarfs — A Scenario for the Loneliest Supernovae?
It’s hard to comprehend the vast emptiness of space. Especially when we detect odd signatures, such as luminous explosions that…
New VLT Observations Clear Up Dusty Mystery
The Universe is overflowing with cosmic dust. Planets form in swirling clouds of dust around a young star; Dust lanes…
Which Star Will Explode Next?
Come on Betelguese, explode already. Or maybe it'll be Eta Carinae. Which of the billions of stars in the galaxy…
Astronomy Cast Ep. 337: Photometry
There's a lot you can learn by just staring at an object, watching how it changes in brightness. This is…
Is Eta Carinae Heading Toward Another Eruption?
Massive stars can devastate their surroundings, unleashing hot winds and blasting radiation. With a mass over 100 times heavier than…
Will The Sun Explode?
All stars die, some more violently than others. Once our own Sun has consumed all the hydrogen fuel in its…
Can Stars Collide?
Imagine a really bad day. Perhaps you’re imagining a day where the Sun crashes into another star, destroying most of…
How do Hypervelocity Stars End up Breaking The Speed Limit?
The Sun is racing through the Galaxy at a speed that is 30 times greater than a space shuttle in…
Hubble Telescope Breaks Record in Finding Most Distant Type Ia Supernova
Astronomers just keep honing their skills and refining their techniques to get the most out of their telescopes. Scientists using…
New Bright and Blue Supernova in NGC 1365
Supernova 2012fr in NGC 1365. It is the bright blue "star" directly below the galaxy core. Credit: Rolf Wahl Olsen.…