Stars
Latest about Stars

Astronomers close in on the mystery of the erupting Orion star system (video)
By Robert Lea published
An erupting star system in Orion has finally provided an answer to the mystery of how stars fed for over 100 years, something that has puzzled astronomers for almost as long.

Scientists reveal Southern Ring Nebula's unexpected structure: 'We were amazed'
By Keith Cooper published
The molecular gas ejected by a dying star within the Southern Ring Nebula will one day be recycled into a new generation of stars and planets.

Astronomers finally know why stars born from the same cloud aren't identical twins
By Robert Lea published
Astronomers finally know why giant binary stars born from the same collapsing cloud of gas and dust can be "non-identical twins" with different characteristics and planetary systems.

Exploding stars send out powerful bursts of energy − I'm leading a citizen scientist project to classify and learn about these bright flashes
By Amy Lien published
Swift is a multiwavelength space telescope that scientists are using to find out more about these mysterious gamma-ray flashes from the universe.

Stellar detectives find suspect for incredibly powerful 'superflares'
By Robert Lea published
Some stars erupt with 'superflares' 10,000 times as powerful as solar flares from the sun. A team of "stellar detectives" are on the case and may now know why some stars are so violent.

Giant gamma-ray flare from 'recently deceased' magnetar lights up Cigar Galaxy
By Robert Lea published
Astronomers have discovered a flare erupting from a highly magnetic "dead star" outside the solar system for the first time. The magnetar flare lit up the entire Cigar Galaxy in gamma rays.

What are globular clusters?
By Conor Feehly last updated
Reference Globular clusters are densely packed, spherical collections of ancient stars. Here we explore them in more detail.

These 3 stars are losing weight fast — thanks to stellar winds way stronger than the sun's
By Robert Lea published
"Our estimated mass-loss rates can be used as a benchmark for stellar wind models and expand our limited observational evidence for the winds of sun-like stars."

One of the universe's most 'extreme' dead stars just sprang back to life unexpectedly
By Robert Lea published
The closest extreme magnetic dead star or magnetar to Earth suddenly burst back to life to give astronomers a sight of unexpected and unexplained phenomena that are unlike anything seen before.
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