Selections from 2017: Hostile Environment Around TRAPPIST-1
Models of the magnetic environment surrounding the seven planets of the TRAPPIST-1 system suggest that it’s not a pleasant place to be for life.
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Selections from 2017: Computers Help Us Map Our Home
A large sample of computer-identified variable stars is helping us to trace out the shape and behavior of the Milky Way’s outskirts.
More Planets in the Hyades Cluster
Three planets have been discovered around a star in the nearby Hyades cluster, potentially providing insight into the early lives of planets similar to our own.
Star-Forming Clouds Feed, Churn, and Fall
New simulations explore the lives of molecular clouds, the birthplaces of stars in galaxies throughout the universe.
Hunting for the Faintest Galaxies
Astrobites reports on how we might find faint and distant dwarf galaxies without individually resolving their stars.
Featured Image: Making Dust in the Lab
This remarkable photograph — which spans only ~10 µm across — reveals what happens when you form dust grains in a laboratory under conditions similar to those of interstellar space.
Which of Kepler’s Stars Flare?
The habitability of distant exoplanets is dependent upon many factors — one of which is the activity of their host stars. A new study explores flares on Kepler stars.
Exploring Our Galaxy’s Thick Disk
What is the structure of the Milky Way’s disk, and how did it form? A new study uses giant stars to explore these questions.
Planet Frequencies in the Galactic Bulge
Astrobites reports on a survey with the Spitzer Space Telescope to find distant exoplanets acting as tiny lenses.
Smashing a Jet into a Cloud to Form Stars
What happens when the highly energetic jet from the center of an active galaxy rams into surrounding clouds of gas and dust?
A Shifting Shield Provides Protection Against Cosmic Rays
The Sun plays an important role in protecting us from cosmic rays, energetic particles that pelt us from outside our solar system. But can we predict when and how it will provide the most protection?
Are Spinning Black Holes Louder?
Some distant active galaxies are louder in radio wavelengths than others. A new study explores whether this difference could be due to how quickly the supermassive black holes at their centers are spinning.