explode

Why won’t the Blaze Star explode? (and how YOU can see it when it does)

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Animation of Blaze Star, showing an expanding white dwarf and red giant.

The Blaze Star isn’t one star but 2. It’s a binary system with a white dwarf and red giant. The Blaze Star’s white dwarf has built up material on its surface, siphoned off from the red giant star. Periodically, it “can’t take no more” and explodes, about every 80 years. Despite the powerful explosion, the … Read more

Violent superflares explode from sun-like stars every 100 years

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High-energy, powerful, and violent stellar explosions called “superflares” have been found to erupt from stars like the sun roughly once every 100 years, making these blasts far more common than scientists had thought. Solar flares, eruptions of high-energy radiation, can have serious effects on Earth, with the potential to impact communication systems and power infrastructure. … Read more