Solar Splashdown
Cambridge, MA
On June 7, 2011, our Sun erupted, blasting tons of hot plasma into space. Some of that plasma splashed back down onto the Sun's surface, sparking bright flashes of ultravio...
Fragments Falling onto the Sun
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Stars form as gravity coalesces the gas and dust in an interstellar cloud until the material develops clumps dense enough to become stars. Even after a star begins to burn its nuclear fue...
NASA's Chandra Turns up Black Hole Bonanza in Galaxy Next Door
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Using data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have discovered an unprecedented bonanza of black holes in the Andromeda Galaxy, one of the nearest galaxies to the Milky Way...
The Diversity of Distant Galaxies
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With the advent of powerful space infrared telescopes like the Spitzer Space Telescope and the (recently deceased) Herschel Space Telescope, astronomers have been able to study the proper...
Cat's Paw Nebula "Littered" with Baby Stars
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Indianapolis, IN
Most skygazers recognize the Orion Nebula, one of the closest stellar nurseries to Earth. Although it makes for great views in backyard telescopes, the Orion Nebula is f...
Young Star Suggests our Sun Was a Feisty Toddler
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Indianapolis, IN
If you had a time machine that could take you anywhere in the past, what time would you choose? Most people would probably pick the era of the dinosaurs in hopes of spot...
Music of the Spheres: Star Songs
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Cambridge, MA
Plato, the Greek philosopher and mathematician, described music and astronomy as "sister sciences" that both encompass harmonious motions, whether of instrument strings or ...
A Burst of Stars 13 Billion Years Ago
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The universe immediately following the big bang contained mostly hydrogen and some helium. All the other elements needed to make galaxies, planets, and life were formed in stellar interi...
Einstein's Exoplanet
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Eight hundred and eighty nine exoplanets (planets around stars other than our Sun) have been discovered to date. Most of them were found using the Kepler satellite, which spots small dip...
How Common are Earths Around Small Stars?
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The Kepler mission has revolutionized the study of exoplanet statistics by increasing the number of known extrasolar planets and planet candidates by a factor of five, and by discovering ...