A new study has identified a chemically peculiar star in the Galactic halo as clear evidence of the existence of pair-instability supernovae (PISNe) from very massive first stars. The star's low sodium and cobalt abundances are consistent with predictions for primordial PISN from first-generation stars with 260 solar masses.
New analysis reveals that two-thirds of planets around small stars could be sterilized by tidal forces, leaving one-third with potentially habitable zones. Hundreds of millions of promising targets have been identified for future studies.
A team of astronomers has discovered chemical traces of supermassive stars in globular proto-clusters, born 440 million years after the Big Bang. The study suggests that these 'celestial monsters' enriched the original gas cloud with chemical elements, explaining abundance anomalies in their stars.
A study by UCLA astronomers reveals that none of the 16 young supermassive stars orbiting the Milky Way's black hole are found in pairs, contradicting previous assumptions about stellar formation. The researchers suggest that the extreme environment around the black hole may be driving nearby binary stars to merge or be disrupted.
Researchers at IAC propose that a mysterious trail of stars may be a galaxy without a bulge seen edge-on. The study finds surprising agreement with a local galaxy, IC5249, and suggests that the object behaves like a typical galaxy. This new theory simplifies the explanation for the phenomenon.
Researchers discovered two massive touching stars that will eventually become black holes and collide, generating waves in space-time. The stars are currently feeding each other every three days before the smaller star collapses into a black hole in 700,000 years.
A team of researchers used machine learning to analyze elemental abundances in over 450 extremely metal-poor stars. The study found that 68% of these stars have a chemical fingerprint consistent with enrichment by multiple supernovae, providing the first quantitative constraint on the multiplicity of the first stars. This challenges th...
An international team used AI to analyze old star chemical abundances and found indications that the first stars formed in groups. The study suggests that first-generation stars must have been clustered together rather than isolated, offering a new constraint on the multiplicity of the first stars.
Researchers found giant gas giants orbiting low-mass stars, challenging the widely accepted planet formation model. The study used NASA's TESS satellite data and identified 15 potential giant planets, with five confirmed as actual planets.
Researchers used the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument to study the motions of nearly 7500 stars in the inner halo of the Andromeda Galaxy. They found telltale patterns that revealed how these stars began their lives as part of another galaxy, shedding light on galactic immigration events.
Researchers found that the stellar initial mass function varies with metallicity and age of stars, affecting galaxy formation and chemical enrichment estimates. The study used LAMOST telescope data to count red dwarf stars and measure their metallicity, revealing a variable abundance of low-mass stars in the Milky Way.
Researchers used the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury Triangulum Extended Region — or PHATTER — survey to study the Triangulum galaxy. The team discovered two drastically different structures depending on the age of the stars, with younger and older stars having distinct distributions.
Researchers used variable stars as standard candles to measure galactic distances, tracing the outer limits of the Milky Way's halo. The study confirms theoretical estimates and provides a powerful tool for studying the galaxy's size and mass.
Astronomers detected light patterns indicating the brief existence of superheavy neutron stars shortly before they collapsed into black holes. These mega neutron stars formed from the collision of two neutron stars and had nearly twice the size of a typical neutron star, spinning at nearly 78,000 times a minute.
The Hubble Space Telescope has shed new light on the mystery of intracluster light, finding that these stars have been wandering around for billions of years. The survey suggests that these stars were already homeless in the early stages of the cluster's formation, and current theories cannot explain their origin.
Astronomers used the Webb Space Telescope's near-infrared camera to analyze images of the Cosmic Cliffs region in NGC 3324. The discovery reveals telltale signs from two dozen previously unseen young stars, with many appearing to be protostars that will eventually become low-mass stars like Earth's sun.
Researchers have detected intra-group light, a faint glow between distant galaxies, and studied its properties. The stars in this light are younger and less metal-rich than surrounding galaxies, suggesting they were stripped from their home galaxies by massive satellite galaxies.
Physicists at Goethe University have developed over a million equations of state to model neutron star structure. These models reveal that 'light' neutron stars have a soft mantle and a stiff core, while 'heavy' stars have a stiff mantle and a soft core.
Researchers investigated open star clusters, finding they dissolve faster than predicted by Newton's laws. The team developed a new method to count stars in tidal tails, revealing a significant difference in the number of stars between the front and rear tails.
Astronomers have discovered a stellar binary with an extremely short orbit of just 51 minutes, confirming a decades-old prediction. The system is believed to be a cataclysmic variable, in which a white dwarf is accreting material from its companion star.
Researchers using JWST's First Deep Field image identified the most distant globular clusters, potentially relics of the first and oldest stars. These discoveries provide a detailed look at the earliest phase of star formation, confirming JWST's power in uncovering the universe's origins.
A new study has created the first map of the Milky Way's ancient dead stars, which reveals a 'galactic underworld' stretching three times the height of the galaxy. The map shows that almost a third of objects have been flung out from the galaxy, with neutron stars and black holes formed when massive stars collapse.
Researchers Konstanze Zwintz and Thomas Steindl develop new model to study pre-main sequence stars, shedding light on their early formation and its effects on stellar evolution. The model improves understanding of the chaotic phase of star birth and its impact on oscillation behavior.
A new simulation suggests that gravitational interactions, not over-eating, are responsible for the Milky Way Galaxy's peanut-shaped and nuclear bulges. The study reveals a clear break in star ages between the two types of bulges, indicating when the bar formed.
Researchers have discovered young stars spiraling into the center of a massive cluster in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. The spiral motion is thought to be feeding star formation in a river-like motion of gas and stars, an efficient way to fuel star birth.
Researchers at the University of Sheffield have proposed a novel origin for Jupiter-like planets around massive stars. Massive stars can capture or steal planets from other stars in densely populated stellar nurseries, a process known as a 'planetary heist'.
Astronomers used the VLBA to trace a wobble in a nearby star's motion and discovered a Jupiter-like planet orbiting one of its stars. The planet has twice the mass of Jupiter and orbits every 284 days, with an inclined orbit of 148 degrees from the stars.
Astronomers discovered that merging galaxies can rip away gas fueling new stars, providing a possible explanation for why large galaxies are dead. The team found a 'post-starburst' galaxy seven billion light years away with signs of available star-forming fuel, suggesting an extreme collision caused the gas to escape.
Researchers at the University of Birmingham have developed a new model to better understand the impact of oscillations in binary neutron stars on gravitational wave detection. This could significantly improve our understanding of neutron stars and their properties.
Researchers discovered a Neptune-sized planet around a bright blue star, shedding light on the dearth of Hot Neptunes. The planet's proximity to its star makes it susceptible to stripping of its gas, but it may survive for a billion years.
Researchers used STARFORGE simulations to uncover what determines star masses, finding that stars regulate their own formation. This discovery may enable better understanding of star formation within our galaxy and other galaxies.
A team of astronomers has developed a novel way to observe the first stars and galaxies, detecting light through the fog of the early Universe. The Square Kilometre Array will likely make images of the earliest light, but current telescopes struggle to detect the cosmological signal through hydrogen clouds.
Researchers have discovered a new technique for detecting dim bodies, including planets, orbiting Cataclysmic Variables (CVs). The method analyzes changes in brightness caused by perturbations of a third body orbiting the inner two stars. Two out of four studied CV systems show signs of planetary mass objects in orbit around them.
Astronomers have discovered a unique triple star system consisting of two binary stars and one massive tertiary star. The system is incredibly luminous due to its compact nature and was initially detected by amateur astronomers using NASA's TESS observatory data.
Astronomers have found that denser and more turbulent environments tend to form binary/multiple stellar systems. The study used the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope and Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array to analyze the Orion Cloud complex, revealing that about 13 dense cores are giving birth to binary/multiple stars.
A new Caltech project, COMAP, will peer beneath the 'tip of the iceberg' of galaxies to unveil a hidden era of star formation. The project aims to answer questions about what caused the universe's rapid increase in star production.
A team of Chinese and Australian astronomers has discovered direct evidence for binary common envelope evolution, a key process in star evolution. The observation provides a way to accurately characterize this process through direct detection.
Researchers discovered compact starburst galaxies cloaked in thick dust clouds that contributed significantly to the total star formation rate. The study found that previous estimates of gas masses were overestimated by a factor of 2-3 due to light being blocked inside the clouds.
Asteroseismology helps determine mass, age, and features of stars in globular clusters, such as M4. A sample of 37 stars was analyzed, with most being red giants and others horizontal branch stars. The study provides an asteroseismic characterization of the stellar populations, shedding light on their origins and chemical characteristics.
Astronomers discovered five isolated 'blue blob' systems containing young, blue stars and little atomic hydrogen gas. The presence of mostly young stars and lack of gas suggests recent gas loss, contradicting expectations of older red stars.
Astronomers used the Gemini South telescope to capture high-resolution images of dusty disks around 44 young massive stars. The survey found that smaller star-mass systems have ringed structures, while more massive systems do not.
Researchers used ALMA to study 30 Doradus, a large star-forming region in the LMC, and discovered that gravity is shaping molecular clouds despite intense stellar feedback. The observations revealed a pattern of highly organized filaments, which are likely an important step in the process of star formation.
Researchers studied over 500 stars in a region of Andromeda called the Northeast shelf, finding conclusive evidence of an ancient collision. The findings provide insights into how material from collisions shapes a galaxy's appearance and makeup.
Researchers have directly imaged four new brown dwarfs orbiting stars from far away, significantly advancing our understanding of these enigmatic objects. The study utilized a novel approach combining space and ground-based facilities to detect hidden companions.
Researchers combined knowledge from nuclear theory, nuclear experiment, and astrophysical observations to gain new insights into neutron star matter. The study found a higher pressure at intermediate densities in neutron stars using data from heavy-ion collision experiments.
Researchers used a new simulation code to study the formation of star clusters and found that massive stars can eject off-center bubbles in the Orion Nebula. The simulations matched observations, showing that ejected stars can initiate ionized bubbles before falling back into the cluster.
Researchers discovered a massive protostellar disk in the Galactic Center with spiral arms, challenging previous understanding of star formation. The disk was perturbed by a close encounter with a nearby object, leading to the formation of spiral arms through accretion disk dynamics.
A team of astronomers found that black holes played a crucial role in preventing rejuvenated star formation in massive quiescent galaxies. By analyzing the combined light from thousands of galaxies, they discovered a low-luminosity active galactic nucleus that may have heated the galaxy's gas, preventing new stars from forming.
Researchers have found that stars in distant galaxies are typically more massive than those in the Milky Way, changing our understanding of astronomical phenomena like black holes, supernovae, and galaxy death. This discovery may also explain why galaxies die and stop forming new stars.
Researchers found that binary star systems form planets in a different way than single stars, which can significantly impact the search for alien life. The study used ALMA telescopes to observe a young binary star system and discovered a cyclic pattern of gas and dust movement that may trigger bursts of material towards the star.
Researchers found that planetary systems around binary stars form differently than those around single stars, potentially creating new targets for extraterrestrial life. The study also suggests that comets could play a key role in delivering organic molecules necessary for life.
Researchers have discovered a new type of stellar explosion called micronovae, which are thermonuclear blasts lasting just a few hours and burning through massive amounts of material. The discovery challenges current knowledge of how these explosions occur in stars and may lead to more being found.
Astronomers at the University of Sydney have discovered slimmer red giant stars, which have undergone dramatic weight loss. The unusual stars are thought to have lost mass due to their stellar neighbors, providing valuable insights into star evolution and life in the Milky Way.
Researchers observed a binary star system in formation, revealing two stars with disks of gas and dust surrounding them. The newly discovered disks may be the beginnings of new planet systems that will orbit the binary stars in the future. This study provides unprecedented detail on a binary system in formation.
A recent analysis of the 2017 GW170817 merger suggests that a rapid spin delay may have prolonged the merger, producing excess X-ray emissions. The radiation is thought to be produced by shocked material in the circumbinary medium, hinting at a bounce from the delayed collapse.
Researchers at Lund University mapped Ytterbium's origin to supernova explosions, revealing new opportunities for studying galaxy evolution. The study provides insight into the element's dual cosmic origins from heavy and regular stars.
Researchers analyzed individual stars to identify components of the Milky Way, finding that it consumed smaller galaxies. The study used advanced spectrographic techniques to measure elemental abundances, providing early insights into the galaxy's formation and evolution.
Astrophysicists have calculated the original mass and size of a dwarf galaxy torn apart in a collision with the Milky Way billions of years ago. The reconstructed galaxy's stars now stream through the Milky Way, carrying information about its gravitational field.
Researchers have discovered a strange new type of star with surfaces composed of carbon and oxygen, the by-product of helium burning. The stars' unusual composition suggests they may have formed through rare stellar mergers, but current models cannot fully explain their origins.
Researchers created a new sample catalog of over 24 million stars to decipher the chemical history of the Milky Way Galaxy. The catalog provides detailed information on elemental abundances, distances, motions, and ages of individual stars, allowing for a better understanding of the galaxy's formation and evolution.