New simulations show that planets around young, massive stars may have been captured or stolen rather than homegrown.
stars
Posted inFeatures
Shake, Rattle, and Probe
Helioseismology allows scientists to study the interior of the Sun, solve some basic physics mysteries, and forecast space weather.
Posted inNews
Pulsar Planets Are Exceedingly Rare
A new survey of hundreds of pulsars could help solve the mystery of why planets exist around these dead stars.
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Coronal Dimmings Shine Light on Stellar CMEs
Coronal mass ejections from stars have eluded easy observation, so scientists are looking at what’s left behind.
Posted inFeatures
Exoplanets in the Shadows
The bright clutter of individual discoveries can overshadow some fascinating research, from necroplanetology to rogue planets to the intimacy of alphanumeric nomenclature.
Posted inNews
Thousands of Stars View Earth as a Transiting Exoplanet
Researchers have identified more than 2,000 stars whose past, present, or future vantage points afford a view of Earth passing directly in front of the Sun, a geometry useful for pinpointing planets.
Posted inNews
When Betelgeuse Won’t Explode, You Need a Big Telescope to Prove It
Thanks to last-minute telescope time, researchers pieced together the sequence of events that caused Betelgeuse’s Great Dimming last year.
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Record-Setting Flare Spotted on the Nearest Star to the Sun
Proxima Centauri recently let loose a blast of radiation, and ground- and space-based telescopes detected the record-setting event at wavelengths ranging from radio to the ultraviolet.
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1.3 Million Pairs of Stars Surround the Sun
Roughly half of Sun-like stars have a stellar sibling, and a surprising fraction of those siblings are identical twins.
Posted inNews
Seeing Stripes in the Atmosphere of a Brown Dwarf
A planet-hunting satellite’s observations of the nearby system Luhman 16 AB reveal bands of clouds, high-speed jets, and polar vortices.