Variable Stars
A Giant Star is Fading Away. But First, it Had an Enormous Eruption
About 16,000 light-years away, a massive star experienced an unusual dimming event. This can happen in binary stars when one…
A Huge New Gaia Data Release: More Stars, Gravitational Lenses and Asteroids
The ESA's Gaia mission is releasing a new tranche of astronomical data. The mission has released three regular, massive hauls…
Not Just Stars. Gaia Mapped a Diverse and Shifting Universe of Variable Objects
We've reported on Gaia's incredible data-collection abilities in the past. Recently, it released DR3, its latest data set, with over…
Two Stars Orbiting Each Other Every 51 Minutes. This Can’t End Well
We don't have to worry too much about our Sun. It can burn our skin, and it can emit potent…
Astronomers See a Star Crash Through the Planetary Disk of Another Star
What causes an otherwise unremarkable star to become over 100 times brighter? That's a question astronomers have been pondering since…
Nancy Grace Roman Telescope is Getting an Upgraded new Infrared Filter
The Nancy Grace Roman Telescope just received a new infrared filter that will allow it to explore even more of…
TESS is Also Helping Astronomers Study Bizarre Pulsating Stars
NASA's TESS, or Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite has one main job: finding exoplanets. But it's also helping astronomers study a…
What are Cepheid Variables?
Discovered in the late 18th century, Cepheid Variable stars have become an important tool for measuring the size of the…
Messier 5 (M5) – The NGC 5904 Globular Cluster
In the late 18th century, Charles Messier was busy hunting for comets in the night sky, and noticed several “nebulous”…
Challenge Yourself! See an Astronomical Event that Only Happens Once Every 26 Years
Update: It’s off. This past weekend, the AAVSO issued Special Notice #395 calling off the campaign to observe Alpha Comae…