New picture reveals the death of hypergiant stars
Astronomers have created a detailed, three-dimensional image of a dying hypergiant star.
The team traced the distribution, directions, and velocities of a variety of molecules...
Scientists map sulfur residue on Jupiter’s icy moon Europa
Scientists used the Hubble Space Telescope to observe Jupiter’s moon, Europa, at ultraviolet wavelengths, filling in a “gap” in the various wavelengths used to...
Nanoparticles control light like road signs direct traffic
The particles control the flow of light like road signs control traffic on a busy road by manipulating the direction in which light can,...
Early galaxies may be bigger and more complex than we thought
Scientists using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have observed a significant amount of cold, neutral gas in the outer regions of the young...
Dying stars could seed interstellar medium with carbon nanotubes
The findings propose a simple, yet elegant mechanism for the formation and survival of complex carbon molecules in space.
In the mid-1980s, the discovery of...
Mysterious ‘blue blobs’ reveal a new kind of star system
Astronomers have identified five examples of a new class of stellar system. They're not quite galaxies and only exist in isolation.
The new stellar systems...
Watch the death of this rare giant star
Located about 3,009 light-years from Earth, VY Canis Majoris is possibly the most massive star in the Milky Way.
A University of Arizona-led team of...
What quantum information and snowflakes have in common, and what we can do about...
Qubits are a basic building block for quantum computers, but they’re also notoriously fragile—tricky to observe without erasing their information in the process.
Now, new...
This weird star produced the fastest nova on record
Astronomers are buzzing after observing the fastest nova ever recorded.
The unusual event drew scientists’ attention to an even more unusual star.
As they study it,...
Asteroid Psyche maps reveal an ancient world of metal and rock
Later this year, NASA is set to launch a probe the size of a tennis court to the asteroid belt, a region between the...