Stars

Normal matter has an “evil twin” that annihilates on contact, and despite decades of study antimatter remains very mysterious. So what actually is it? Where is it? Why is it important to understand? And why hasn’t it already destroyed the universe?

A huge new dataset could soon help unlock the mystery of fast radio bursts (FRBs). Within a few weeks, over 1,600 new signals were detected coming from one of the most well-studied sources, essentially ruling out a leading hypothesis on their origin.

Astronomers have detected a strange radio source from near the center of the Milky Way. The signal repeats seemingly at random and can’t be attributed to any known astronomical object, leading the team to consider that it may be something brand new.

Astronomers have discovered strange radio signals that could be coming from unseen planets. Models suggest that interactions between the magnetic fields of planets and their host stars produce radio emissions – a new potential way to detect planets.

One Sun is plenty for our solar system, but some planets have been found orbiting two stars at once. Now the ante has been upped again, with evidence emerging of a planet orbiting three stars at once.

Astronomers have discovered a big hole in space. New 3D visualizations of the Perseus and Taurus star-forming clouds have revealed a large cavity between them, possibly created in ancient supernova explosions.

Astronomers have spotted a new type of supernova for the first time. An unlucky star seems to have prematurely exploded after colliding with an extremely dense object, perhaps a black hole or a neutron star, creating a unique signature in the sky.

We might be one step closer to an answer for the intriguing cosmic mystery of fast radio bursts. By examining multiple “radio colors” simultaneously in a batch of repeating signals, astronomers have ruled out a leading model for their origin.

Space is an exceptionally strange place, full of signals and observations that defy our understanding of the universe. In trying to explain these mysteries, sometimes astronomers hypothesize extremely exotic objects that we haven’t yet found.

Supernovae usually appear suddenly in the sky, but now astronomers have spotted one in advance. The telltale sign is a star with a “teardrop” shape, as it gets stretched out by the gravitational pull of a companion.

A bizarre star may have its origins in an extremely energetic event. Astronomers have found that a star with an unusual composition may have formed in the wake of a new type of hypernova – a stellar explosion with 10 times the energy of a supernova.

Astronomers have discovered the smallest but most massive white dwarf ever found. The tiny star is only the size of our Moon, but packs in more mass than the Sun, meaning it’s approaching the theoretical limit of what’s possible without exploding.