A new technique has identified stars that have consumed planets, revealing that stable systems like the Solar System may be less common than thought. The technique analyzes the abundance of beryllium, a rare chemical element, and has opened a new window into studying planetary system evolution.
A research team at Osaka Metropolitan University mapped molecular gas throughout Stephan's Quintet, a nearby group of interacting galaxies. They found that regions with turbulent gas formed stars less efficiently, even with abundant gas present. Turbulence prevents gas from settling and collapsing, creating fewer opportunities for star...
Astronomers discover that massive galaxies in the early universe contain more small stars than expected, challenging current understanding of galaxy formation. The study uses NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to reveal the hidden mass of low-mass stars in these galaxies.
Researchers from the University of Missouri discovered that the ratio of large and small stars in distant galaxies depends on their environment, potentially altering how scientists estimate galaxy mass and age. This breakthrough could lead to more accurate estimates and a better understanding of the universe's history.
The SDSS-V survey has released its twentieth public data release (DR20), providing a massive catalog of high-quality spectra of stars across the Milky Way. The dataset includes over two million total spectra, revealing temperatures, ages, and chemical compositions of stars.
A recent study from Florida International University suggests that galaxy mergers are neither necessary nor sufficient to stop galaxies from forming new stars. Instead, slower internal processes are believed to play a much larger role in quenching star formation.
Researchers directly observed four white dwarf stars orbiting double star systems in our cosmic backyard. The new results revealed that each system had a red dwarf companion, which was hiding the white dwarf's light. This discovery allows researchers to update the local white dwarf census within 20 parsecs of Earth.
Researchers have discovered that young sea stars' hollow tube develops into their later organs, similar to human embryonic development. By comparing the development of hydro-vascular organs across different species, scientists hope to better understand how organs form and maintain their shape.
Astronomers have found strong evidence that young red dwarf stars can swallow their own nearby planets. The study, published in Monthly Notices of the Astronomical Society, suggests that six different red dwarfs had engulfed Earth-like rocky planets, providing a fresh burst of lithium to their atmospheres.
Binghamton University has achieved a gold star rating through the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability's STARS program. The university excelled in research, public engagement, and coordination and planning, with notable initiatives including smart energy research and environmental justice efforts.
The study reveals that more massive young star clusters clear away their natal gas faster than lower-mass clusters. This has implications for our understanding of star formation and how the young stars affect their surroundings.
New research from McMaster University challenges existing theories of planet formation around mid-to-late M dwarfs. The study found that sub-Neptunes almost completely disappear around these stars, hosting many super-Earths instead. This suggests that water-rich worlds may be more common in these systems.
Astronomers using astroseismology have found that massive stars' rotation rates decrease with age, but a new study suggests this may not be the case. The research team used 3D simulations to investigate how magnetic fields affect rotation inside massive stars, revealing that some configurations can spin the core up.
Astronomers have identified the edge of the Milky Way's star-forming disc for the first time, finding that most star formation happens within 40,000 light-years of the Galactic Center. This discovery uses a new approach combining star ages with galaxy simulations to pinpoint the boundary.
Astronomers have identified a metal-poor star in the Large Magellanic Cloud, which is almost entirely hydrogen and helium with trace amounts of carbon and iron. Studying this low-mass star can help clarify our understanding of the first generation of stars, called Population III stars.
Astronomers have discovered a rare second-generation star, PicII-503, in the ultra-faint dwarf galaxy Pictor II, which preserves the chemical imprint of the first stars in the Universe. The star has an extreme overabundance of carbon and the lowest iron abundance ever measured outside of the Milky Way.
The Small Magellanic Cloud's stars do not orbit around its center due to a direct collision with the Large Magellanic Cloud. The collision disrupted the SMC's internal structure and destroyed its gas rotation, making it a unique case to study galaxy evolution.
Researchers found our Sun joined a mass migration of similar stars 4-6 billion years ago, shedding light on galaxy evolution and the corotation barrier. The discovery reveals the time range over which the bar structure at the galactic center was formed.
Astronomers detect rare cosmic burst from colliding galaxies, which sheds light on how the universe creates heavy elements like gold and platinum. The burst, known as GRB 230906A, is believed to have been triggered by the collision of two neutron stars, releasing a flood of energy and forging heavy elements.
Scientists have made a major breakthrough in understanding how neutron stars respond to tidal forces, enabling them to infer their internal composition. By analyzing gravitational wave signals, researchers can 'hear' what's happening inside the stars and determine the presence of heavy elements, free electrons, and other exotic matter.
Researchers at Nagoya University found that magnetic fields keep the equator spinning faster than the poles in stars, preventing a rotation flip even as they slow down with age. This contradicts 45 years of theoretical predictions and could help scientists solve stellar mysteries.
The absence of exoplanets orbiting tight binary stars is attributed to the effects of general relativity, which causes gravitational tugs from the stars to make a planet's orbit precess. This process makes it difficult for close-in planets to survive, with 75% being destroyed due to tidal disruptions or ejection from the system.
Researchers from ICCUB led the most extensive observational study of runaway massive stars in the Milky Way, combining measurements of rotation speeds and binarity. The results reveal that most runaway stars rotate slowly, while those with high velocities are linked to supernova explosions or gravitational ejection.
A recent study suggests that dark stars could provide solutions to three pressing puzzles of the high-redshift universe: blue monster galaxies, overmassive black hole galaxies, and little red dots. Dark stars form in dark matter-rich environments and can grow to become supermassive, complementing standard models of galaxy formation.
Astronomers have created a naturally occurring space weather station around complex periodic variable M dwarf stars to study the environment of planets. This discovery sheds new light on how stars affect their planets' makeup and might provide clues about the habitability of distant worlds.
A team of astronomers has discovered that the winds of giant stars like R Doradus are driven by complex processes, rather than being powered solely by starlight and stardust. The study used advanced computer simulations to model how starlight interacts with dust grains, finding that they are too small to be pushed outward by starlight ...
A team from Maynooth University is using the Mauve telescope to investigate how stars and planets form, focusing on Herbig Ae/Be stars. The research aims to identify variability and search for signs of early planet formation.
Researchers at RIKEN successfully simulated the Milky Way Galaxy with over 100 billion individual stars, far surpassing previous state-of-the-art models. This achievement demonstrates the power of AI-accelerated simulations in tackling complex multi-scale problems in astrophysics and beyond.
New research reveals Pleiades star cluster as core of larger structure spanning 1,950 light-years, with similar ages and chemical compositions among its members. The study uses rotation-based approach to identify stars sharing origin story.
The discovery reveals that the Pleiades is part of a sprawling stellar family, known as the Greater Pleiades Complex, with thousands of hidden siblings across the sky. By combining data from NASA's TESS and ESA's Gaia space telescope, researchers identified young stars spinning quickly, tracing the origins of the Pleiades.
Researchers propose that interactions between particles in primordial matter domination could have given rise to the first black holes, boson stars, and cannibal stars. These compact objects could have formed through gravothermal collapse, leading to surprising cosmic structures.
Astronomers at UCL and the University of Warwick discovered that aging stars are destroying giant planets orbiting closest to them. The researchers analyzed nearly half a million stars and found that planets were less likely to occur around stars that had expanded and cooled enough to be classed as red giants.
A new model explains how extremely massive stars (EMS) forged the chemistry of globular clusters, the ancient archives of the universe. EMSs release powerful stellar winds that mix with surrounding gas to form chemically distinct stars.
New research reveals many encouraging signs for ochre sea star populations, with many baby boomers reaching adulthood and population numbers exceeding pre-wasting disease abundances. However, the average body sizes of the sea stars are still smaller than before, and the populations coast-wide are generally less steady from year to year.
A new study reveals that most massive stars in the early universe were born as binary systems, similar to those in our own galaxy. This finding provides the first strong evidence for the common existence of massive binary stars in the early universe, shaping black holes and supernovae.
Researchers have created a new model that shows how planet formation timing influences planetary composition and density. The study suggests that older, rocky planets are less dense than younger ones due to the varying lifetimes of stars.
Recent studies reveal a class of short period binary systems where white dwarfs are inflated and their surface temperatures can reach 10-30 thousand degrees Kelvin. Tidal forces can strongly influence the evolution of these stars, causing them to inflate and increase in temperature.
Researchers from Australian National University have detected binary stars in the outer regions of 47 Tucanae, a globular cluster in the Milky Way. This discovery sheds light on how these clusters formed and evolved over billions of years.
Recent study identifies four extremely distant objects consistent with supermassive dark stars, which could explain the formation of supermassive black holes. The presence of a 'smoking gun signature' absorption feature at 1640 Angstrom in one of the objects suggests their existence.
The Gaia space telescope has discovered a giant wave in the Milky Way galaxy, causing stars to wobble over vast distances. The wave stretches across a huge portion of the galactic disc, affecting stars up to 65 thousand light-years away from the centre.
Astronomers used Gaia's data to create the most accurate 3D map of star-forming regions in our galaxy, revealing the location and ionization of hot young stars. The map extends to 4000 light-years from us and includes detailed views of notable nebulae.
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University found six million fake stars on GitHub, used to boost repository reputation and steal user data. The use of fake stars muddies the waters, making it challenging to differentiate between legitimate and malicious repositories.
Researchers at Kyoto University discovered that streamers of gas can feed young stars, potentially leading to the rapid formation of high-mass stars. The team used ALMA to observe a system with two streamers, which carried enough matter to quench feedback effects from the central star.
A team of astronomers has combined cluster and variable star data from the Gaia mission to create a new map of stellar life cycles. The study shows that at least one in five stars in clusters changes brightness over time, with young clusters hosting more variety of variable stars.
A study by researchers at UC Santa Barbara, Yale University and others found that a third of young stars have misaligned rotational axes with their protoplanetary disks. This challenges centuries-old assumptions about the alignment of stars and planets in our solar system and suggests that some stars may be born tilted.
Researchers detected sulfur in both gas and solid phases using data from the XRISM spacecraft, providing unprecedented insight into its presence in the universe. The findings are based on measurements of X-rays from two binary star systems and suggest that sulfur can easily change between these forms.
A recent study led by Heidelberg University astronomers has found that Earth-like planets are more common than previously thought around low-mass stars. The research team identified four new exoplanets, with the largest one having a mass 14 times greater than Earth and orbiting its host star in approximately 3.3 years.
A team of researchers has discovered that a specific radio signal can reveal the masses of the earliest stars, crucial for understanding the Cosmic Dawn. The study utilizes the 21-centimetre signal, created by hydrogen atoms filling gaps between star-forming regions, to inform predictions about future radio telescopes like REACH and SKA.
Researchers found that the Galactic Center's star-forming regions struggle to form high-mass stars, unlike typical star-forming regions, due to extreme conditions caused by the black hole. The study suggests these regions effectively produce just one generation of stars and lack sufficient material for continued formation.
Astronomers have discovered a giant planet, TOI-6894b, orbiting the smallest known star to host such a companion. The planet's existence contradicts current planet formation models, which suggest that small stars cannot form or retain massive planets.
Researchers at ICRAR have found that galaxies forming stars rely on the location of atomic hydrogen gas, not its total amount. Higher-resolution observations allowed for unprecedented mapping of gas distribution in 1,000 galaxies.
Researchers at Nagoya University discovered that Cepheid variable stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud are moving in opposing directions along two distinct axes, indicating the galaxy is being stretched by multiple external gravitational forces. The findings challenge previous theories of the galaxy's structure and dynamics.
A team of Potsdam researchers has detected infrared signatures of stellar winds from massive stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud galaxy, a satellite of the Milky Way. The study, led by Armin Mang Román, uses James Webb Space Telescope data to analyze the young, massive star cluster NGC 346.
A massive family of over 1000 young stars in the Milky Way has been spotted behaving oddly, moving away from each other at a much faster rate than expected. Using Gaia's vast spectroscopic data, scientists developed a new model to explore and identify these young stars.
Astronomers have found the first strong evidence for a 'polar planet' orbiting a stellar pair, with the unprecedented exoplanet named 2M1510 (AB) b. The planet orbits at an angle of 90 degrees around two young brown dwarfs.
Research suggests that massive stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud are being pulled apart by the Large Magellanic Cloud. The discovery reveals a new pattern in stellar motion, which could transform our understanding of galaxy evolution and interactions.
A new study by UNSW Sydney researchers has discovered the sound frequencies of a cluster of stars 2700 light years away, allowing scientists to map the history of the Milky Way and other galaxies. The discovery uses oscillation frequencies to determine a star's age and mass, providing insights into galaxy formation and evolution.
A recent discovery reveals that massive quiescent galaxies formed even earlier and more rapidly than previously thought. The study found a galaxy named RUBIES-UDS-QG-z7, which formed a stellar mass of over 10 billion solar masses within the first 600 million years after the Big Bang before ceasing star formation.
Researchers developed an AI model that classifies variable stars from light curves with high accuracy, outperforming traditional approaches. The StarWhisper LightCurve series achieves near 90% accuracy with minimal manual intervention, paving the way for parallel data analysis and multi-modal AI applications in astronomy.
A team of researchers from Kyushu University discovered that about 60% of molecular clouds in the Small Magellanic Cloud had a filamentary structure, while 40% were 'fluffy' with higher temperatures. This finding provides new insights into star formation in early-universe-like environments.