Hypervelocity stars (HVSs) were first theorized to exist in the late 1980s. In 2005, the first discoveries were confirmed. HVSs travel much faster than normal stars, and sometimes, they can exceed the galactic escape velocity. Astronomers estimate that the Milky Way contains about 1,000 HVSs, and new research shows that some of these originate in … Read more
A new study has revealed that temperamental stars that brighten and dim over the course of just a few hours could be distorting astronomers’ views of thousands of planets beyond the solar system. The team behind this research reached this conclusion by studying 20 extrasolar planets or “exoplanets” as they crossed, or “transited,” the faces … Read more
Galavanting through the galaxy far, far away with seemingly effortless literary ease, prolific “Star Wars” author, Alexander Freed has been catapulted to the top tier of sci-fi writers. He is confidently able to navigate far off alien worlds and complex plotlines via their imposing storytelling skills, engaging characters, and vivid descriptions. Freed accumulated an impressive … Read more
In recent decades, technological advances have opened up the possibility of light-powered space travel at a significant fraction of light speed. This involves a ground-based light beamer pushing ultra-light nanocrafts – miniature space probes attached to lightsails – to speeds of up to 100 million miles an hour (160 million kph). Such a system would … Read more
Why are the winter stars so bright? It’s winter in the Northern Hemisphere (summer in the Southern Hemisphere), and if you look outside in the evening you’ll see many bright stars. Beginning around now, the evening sky as seen from around the world will look clearer and sharper than it did 6 months ago, assuming no … Read more
Scientists have received an unexpected Christmas gift this year: a potential solution to the mystery of JuMBOs, strange celestial objects that seem not to be planets or stars. Try putting a bow on that! This gift comes courtesy of a team of researchers who believe that mysterious JuMBOs (Jupiter-mass binary objects) are actually stellar cores … Read more
The globular cluster M53, imaged here by the Hubble Space Telescope, is home to mostly older stars – but also a population of strange, young-looking blue straggler stars. Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA Meet HD 65907, an imposter. It’s a star that appears far too young for its age. Astronomers have finally cracked the case of this … Read more
Even if you knew nothing about astronomy, you’d understand that exploding stars are forceful and consequential events. How could they not be? Supernovae play a pivotal role in the Universe with their energetic, destructive demises. There are different types of supernovae exploding throughout the Universe, with different progenitors and different remnants. The Zwicky Transient Facility … Read more
HBO’s “Dune: Prophecy” is lurching towards its season finale on Dec. 22, but before we’re further embroiled in the heated court politics of House Corrino and Valya Harkonnen’s vengeful thirst for power and Sisterhood control comes to a head, fans were treated to some intimate time with the two brooding patriarchs, Evgeny Harkonnen (Mark Addy) … Read more
Exomoons are a hot topic in the science community, as none have been confirmed with astronomers finding new and creative ways to identify them. But while astronomers have searched for exomoons orbiting exoplanets around single stars like our Sun, could exomoons exist around exoplanets orbiting binary stars? This is what a recent study submitted to … Read more