Eruptions from the Sun
Recent analysis of a powerful solar outburst — captured on video by several Sun-monitoring spacecraft — may help us to understand how it was launched.
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Comet 67P’s Pitted Surface
The surface of comet 67P Churyumov–Gerasimenko is covered in active pits — some measuring hundreds of meters both wide and deep! But what processes caused these pits to form?
Orbit of a Giant and a Dwarf
The subgiant and white dwarf of the Procyon binary system orbit each other with a tiny angular separation, creating a distinct challenge for astronomers to observe. Two decades of Hubble observations have now finally revealed some of its secrets.
Measuring a Black Hole’s Mass with Robotic Telescopes
Who needs humans? Robotic observations have been used to measure the mass of a supermassive black hole at the center of an active galaxy.
Discovery in the Galactic Bulge
A new study has discovered a population of very young stars in a thin disk through the galactic center, providing clues to the star formation history of the Milky Way over the last 100 million years.
Masquerading as a Merger
Dual active galactic nuclei are often produced when two galaxies collide, but they’re difficult to identify because the nuclei are so close together. Now, a team of authors has found a new way of confirming these objects.
Testing for the Presence of a Planet
The T Tauri star PTFO 8-8695 has been suspected of harboring a close-in giant planet, but a recent study has cast doubt on this theory.
Featured Image: A Double Cluster
A recent study used the Hubble Space Telescope to perform a high-resolution multi-band survey of Westerland 2, the very young star cluster visible in this spectacular image.
Making Stars … With a Little Help
Could high rates of star formation, observed in galaxies at high redshifts, be explained by feedback from active nuclei at the centers of the galaxies?
What Do You Get When Two Neutron Stars Merge?
What remnant is formed by a neutron-star merger: another neutron star? Or a black hole? The answer determines whether or not an explosion of energy is released in the form of a gamma-ray burst.
A Star on the Run
Usually stars that are born together tend to move together — but sometimes stars can go rogue and “run away” from their original birthplace. A pair of astronomers have now discovered the first runaway red supergiant ever identified in another galaxy.
Earth-Sized Planets Around Nearby Dwarf
Kepler’s K2 mission has recently discovered two Earth-sized planets transiting a small, cool star only ~200 light-years away.