Stars

The Tarantula Nebula in infrared isn’t quite as showy as it is in visible light, but it’s still impressive. Credit: ESO/VMC Survey
Reassessing an irregular spiral: A spectacular image of the Large Magellanic Cloud
Phil Plait
Trending on SYFY WIRE in Stars
Tag: Bad Astronomy
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Exoplanet-hunting observatory TESS sees a star torn apart by a black hole
Phil Plait
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Artwork showing a star (center) getting torn apart by a black hole (upper left). Credit: Robin Dienel, courtesy of the Carnegie Institution for Science
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Boyajian's Star: Could its bizarre behavior be due to an evaporating exomoon?
Phil Plait
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A dust ring around Boyajian’s Star caused by an evaporating exomoon may be the reason behind the star’s bizarre behavior. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
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Remember Tabby's Star? It may have a friend... and maybe lots of them
Phil Plait
Sep 16, 2019
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Artwork of comets orbiting another star, which could cause dips in the star’s light as seen from Earth. Credit: Danielle Futselaar
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Tag: exocomets
Exocomets are raining down on Beta Pictoris
Phil Plait
Sep 10, 2019
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Artwork depicting comets orbiting the young star Beta Pictoris, still surrounded by a disk of material. Note that the comet tails point away from the star; that affects what we see as a comet transits the star’s face. Credit: ESO/L. Calçada
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A second planet for Beta Pictoris!
Phil Plait
Aug 22, 2019
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Beta Pictoris (centered; the rings and lines are image artifacts caused by the telescope) is a young nearby star with a disk of dust and at least two planets orbiting it. Credit: SIMBAD / DSS
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A very dense oasis in the brown dwarf desert
Phil Plait
Aug 6, 2019
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glowing_browndwarf.jpg
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Our galaxy is warped!
Phil Plait
Aug 5, 2019
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The ages of the Cepheid stars observed are mapped against a schematic of the Milky Way by color: Blue is youngest and red oldest; note how younger stars are closer to the center. The Sun’s position is marked by the yellow “sun” symbol. Credit: J. Skowron
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Astronomers are watching a star die in real time
Phil Plait
Aug 1, 2019
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NGC 6826 is a planetary nebula, a dying star whose light is causing previously expelled gas around it to glow.
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Astronomers find a rare 'super-Neptune' thanks to Einstein
Phil Plait
Jul 22, 2019
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Artist’s depiction of the planet OGLE-2012-BLG-0950Lb, which is intermediate in mass between Neptune and Saturn. The rings are just an artistic flourish; we don’t know if the planet has rings or not. Credit: NASA/JPL/GSFC/F. Reddy/C. Ranc
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Westerlund-1: A star cluster full of monsters
Phil Plait
Jun 14, 2019
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Westerlund-1, one of the most massive star clusters in the Milky Way. ALMA observations (red), superposed on a Hubble image, indicate several of the stars are enshrouded in warm dust. Credit: ESO/D. Fenech et al.; ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)
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Star Trek vs. Red Dwarf: The Battle of Wolf 359
Phil Plait
Jun 6, 2019
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The Sun (left) is six times wider than Wolf 359 (middle, actually an image of the Sun in ultraviolet shrunk to the right scale), which is 60% wider than Jupiter (right).
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Downtown Sagittarius is a busy place
Phil Plait
May 27, 2019
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A Hubble image of a region of the sky in Sagittarius reveals thousands of stars of all different colors. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
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The recurrent exploding nova R Aquarii: Unlucky Stars
Phil Plait
May 24, 2019
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A composite image of R Aquarii in optical light (red) and X-rays (blue); the jets emit X-rays due to the strong magnetic fields present. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/R. Montez et al.; Optical: Adam Block/Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter/U. Arizona
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A black hole in a distant galaxy has been eating a star… for more than a *decade*!
Phil Plait
May 15, 2019
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Artwork depicting a black hole eating a star, the ferocious tides tearing the star apart. Credit: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss
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When the first stars in the Universe exploded, they *really* exploded
Phil Plait
May 10, 2019
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Artwork depicting beams of matter and energy tearing through a massive blue star, creating a hypernova and gamma-ray burst. Credit: NASA/Dana Berry/Skyworks Digital
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