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Supermassive black hole gobbled up a star in the 1980s, and high schoolers helped discover it

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Astronomers have found evidence of a black hole snacking on a star in data gathered back in the 1980s, according to new research. The researchers say that they have identified the signature of such an event in data gathered during the 1980s, thanks to a pair of high school interns from Massachusetts. When a star … Read more

Lego Star Wars AT-AT review

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We enjoyed building the Lego Star Wars AT-AT far more than we thought we would. While you expect detail and authenticity from a $160 kit, the actual finished model doesn’t look all that exciting – it’s a large, gray mechanical space-horse noted for the fact it falls over relatively easily in the Star Wars movies. … Read more

What We Learned From a Dead Star Erupting With The Fire And Fury of 100,000 Suns

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In a nearby galaxy, a rare kind of dead star erupted into a giant outburst. This in itself may not be so peculiar; but, for the first time, changes in its brightness during this event have been documented in detail, giving scientists a window into understanding the processes that produce these colossal flares.   The … Read more

Astronomers Discovery a Brand New Type of Nebula, And It’s Very Cool

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Most Universe Today readers are familiar with nebulae. They’re gaseous structures lit up with radiation from nearby stars, and they’re some of nature’s most beautiful forms. With the help of amateur astronomers who laid the groundwork, an international team of astronomers has discovered a new type of nebulae around binary stars that they’re calling galactic … Read more

For The First Time, We’ve Seen a Red Giant Star Transition Into a Supernova

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We’re seeing many spectacular sights out in space as our telescopes become more powerful, but there’s a new contender for the most exciting one yet: According to researchers, we’ve observed a red supergiant star exploding into a supernova for the first time.   Supernova (SN) 2020tlf, to give it its technical name, was watched for … Read more

Death star: In cosmic first, scientists observe red supergiant just before it explodes

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It’s much easier for scientists to see the messy aftermath of stellar explosions than to watch the prelude to the drama. But finally, astronomers managed to observe a red giant star just as it “went supernova,” as exploding stars are called. Using a telescope in Hawaii, a team of scientists gathered observations of a red … Read more

Does every star have planets?

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In 1992, astronomers discovered the first planet outside the solar system. Since then, telescopes have spotted thousands of these so-called exoplanets orbiting not only stars similar to the sun but also in binary star systems; small, cool stars called red dwarfs; and even ultradense neutron stars. It’s enough to make you wonder: Does every star … Read more

China’s ‘Artificial Sun’ Just Broke a Major World Record For Plasma Fusion

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Just seven months after it announced a milestone record for plasma fusion, the Chinese Academy of Sciences has absolutely smashed it. Their ‘artificial Sun’ tokomak reactor is has maintained a roiling loop of plasma superheated to 120 million degrees Celsius (216 million degrees Fahrenheit) for a gobsmacking 1,056 seconds, the Institute of Plasma Physics reports.   … Read more

Astronomers Report a Monstrous Eruption from a Supermagnetic Star

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A dense, magnetic star violently erupted and spat out as much energy as a billion suns — and it happened in a fraction of a second, scientists recently reported. This type of star, known as a magnetar, is a neutron star with an exceptionally strong magnetic field, and magnetars often flare spectacularly and without warning. But even though … Read more