Stars

Astronomers have mapped out half the universe in X-ray light, using a space telescope called eROSITA. The new map, which contains almost a million X-ray sources, is the basis of dozens of new scientific papers, with many more to come.

“Astronomers discover a completely unknown object floating around in space” is a common news theme, but it’s fun every time. The latest is a brand new type of star – ancient red giants the team has nicknamed “Old Smokers.”

Astronomers have discovered a neutron star orbiting a mysterious object that, by all accounts, shouldn’t be able to exist. Seemingly invisible in light, and too small to be a black hole, the object defies explanation.

Space is one of the most versatile and photogenic subjects, and this year was no different. From a sunrise captured by the International Space Station to the most distant star ever observed, here are some of the best space photographs taken in 2023.

Black holes are famous for gobbling up everything – but could they ever be swallowed whole? A new study suggests stars could capture very small black holes. There might even be a way to find them, and if so, they could help us understand dark matter.

You’d never notice one star in the galaxy that wasn’t from around here. Astronomers have now found that a star right near the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way likely originated in a smaller galaxy that ours devoured.

Scientists have uncovered hints of a world of new elements beyond the periodic table. A new study has found that ancient stars may have been producing extremely heavy elements that remain unknown to science.

The James Webb Space Telescope may have been touted a successor to Hubble, but the old-timer still has some life left in it. These two iconic instruments have now teamed up to take a deep-field image of the colorful “Christmas Tree galaxy cluster.”

Move over TRAPPIST-1 – there’s an exciting new planetary system in town. Meet Kepler-385, home to seven Super-Earths that were just discovered in existing data.

As spooky season wraps, NASA has a final Halloween treat. Using two X-ray telescopes, astronomers have visualized the ‘bones’ in one of space's most haunting phenomena, the pulsar wind nebula MSH 15-52, also known as the ‘cosmic hand' or 'hand of God'.

Astronomers have detected one of the most energetic explosions in the history of the universe: a gamma ray burst from a neutron star collision. For the first time ever, heavy metals were detected in the explosion, totaling hundreds of Earths in mass.

NASA’s anticipated Roman Space Telescope is taking shape, and will soon measure light from a billion galaxies, perform a microlensing survey deep in the Milky Way, monitor hundreds of millions of stars and peer into unseen galactic neighborhoods.