Stellar murder: When stars destroy and eat their own planets
Our sun is both our best friend and our worst enemy. On the one hand, we owe our very existence to our star. Earth and the other planets in the solar system formed out of the same cloud of gas and dust as the sun......»»
Student cleans up archival data and uncovers two stellar cocoons
While investigating 16 years of images of young stars from a retired astronomical camera, Leiden master's student Sam de Regt discovered that two of those stars were still enveloped in birth clouds that had not been seen at this level of detail befor.....»»
Study reports that age is the driving force in changing how stars move within galaxies
Galaxies start life with their stars rotating in an orderly pattern but in some the motion of stars is more random. Until now, scientists have been uncertain about what causes this—possibly the surrounding environment or the mass of the galaxy itse.....»»
Scientists use NASA data to predict solar corona before eclipse
Our sun, like many stars, is adorned with a crown. It's called a corona (Latin for "crown" or "wreath") and consists of long, thread-like strands of plasma billowing out from the sun's surface. The powerful magnetic field of the sun defines these str.....»»
Where are all these rogue planets coming from?
There's a population of planets that drifts through space untethered to any stars. They're called rogue planets or free-floating planets (FFPs.) Some FFPs form as loners, never having enjoyed the company of a star. But most are ejected from solar sys.....»»
Daily Telescope: A shiny cluster of stars in a nearby galaxy
This cluster is about 2 billion years old. Enlarge / This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows a globular cluster called NGC 1651. (credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, L. Girardi, F. Niederhofer) Welcome to the.....»»
What to watch on Apple TV+ in April: new Colin Farrell detective drama, Michael Douglas stars as Benjamin Franklin, more
There’s a lot coming to Apple TV+ in April. From detective dramas to historical fiction to political documentaries, and more, here’s what to watch on Apple’s streaming service this month. more….....»»
Exploding stars are rare but emit torrents of radiation—one close enough to Earth could threaten life on the planet
Stars like the sun are remarkably constant. They vary in brightness by only 0.1% over years and decades, thanks to the fusion of hydrogen into helium that powers them. This process will keep the sun shining steadily for about 5 billion more years, bu.....»»
Supercomputer simulations decode the mass puzzle of the first stars
Ching-Yao Tang and Dr. Ke-Jung Chen from the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica (ASIAA) have made substantial progress in decoding the birth mass of the first stars using the powerful supercomputer at Berkeley National Lab......»»
Daily Telescope: A flying telescope gets photobombed by some planets
It's a bird... It's a plane... It's a telescope. Enlarge / The SOFIA telescope. (credit: Chris Johnson) Welcome to the Daily Telescope. There is a little too much darkness in this world and not enough light, a littl.....»»
What’s new in April 2024: 8 upcoming games to keep on your radar
Sand Land, Stellar Blade, and Tales of Kenzera: Zau round out a quieter but exciting month of new game releases......»»
Stellar murder: When stars destroy and eat their own planets
Our sun is both our best friend and our worst enemy. On the one hand, we owe our very existence to our star. Earth and the other planets in the solar system formed out of the same cloud of gas and dust as the sun......»»
Image: Hubble finds a field of stars
This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows a globular cluster called NGC 1651. Like another recent globular cluster image, NGC 1651 is about 162,000 light-years away in the largest and brightest of the Milky Way's satellite galaxies, t.....»»
Mapping the best route for a spacecraft traveling beyond the sun"s sphere of influence
The heliosphere—made of solar wind, solar transients, and the interplanetary magnetic field—acts as our solar system's personal shield, protecting the planets from galactic cosmic rays. These extremely energetic particles accelerated outwards fro.....»»
Three-year study of young stars with NASA"s Hubble enters new chapter
In the largest and one of the most ambitious Hubble Space Telescope programs ever executed, a team of scientists and engineers collected information on almost 500 stars over a three-year period. This effort offers new insights into the stars' formati.....»»
Stars vs Canucks live stream: Can you watch for free?
The Dallas Stars and Vancouver Canucks clash in an important NHL battle tonight. Here's how to watch a live stream of the game from anywhere in the US......»»
Schools in the path of April"s total solar eclipse prepare for a natural teaching moment
Seventh-grade student Henry Cohen bounced side to side in time to the Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun" playing in teacher Nancy Morris' classroom, swinging his arms open and closed across the planets pictured on his T-shirt......»»
In a distant stellar system, the JWST sees the end of planet formation
Every time a star forms, it represents an explosion of possibilities. Not for the star itself; its fate is governed by its mass. The possibilities it signifies are in the planets that form around it. Will some be rocky? Will they be in the habitable.....»»
Astronomers conduct first search for forming planets with James Webb Space Telescope
Planets form in disks of dust and gas called protoplanetary disks that whirl around a central protostar during its final assembly. Although several dozens of such disks have been imaged, just two planets have been caught in the act of forming so far......»»
Sleeping supermassive black holes awakened briefly by shredded stars
A new investigation into an obscure class of galaxies known as Compact Symmetric Objects, or CSOs, has revealed that these objects are not entirely what they seem. CSOs are active galaxies that host supermassive black holes at their cores. Out of the.....»»
Euclid"s sight has been restored
A newly devised procedure to de-ice Euclid's optics has performed significantly better than hoped. Light coming in to the visible "VIS" instrument from distant stars was gradually decreasing due small amounts of water ice building up on its optics. M.....»»