Circumstellar shells as a research area focus on the structure, composition, formation, and evolution of shell-like gas and dust envelopes surrounding stars at various evolutionary stages, particularly asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, red supergiants, and some massive stars. Studies integrate high-resolution spectroscopy, interferometry, millimeter/submillimeter observations, and radiative transfer and hydrodynamic modeling to characterize mass-loss processes, dust nucleation and growth, chemical enrichment, and interaction with the interstellar medium. This field also investigates shell morphologies (e.g., spherical, clumpy, or asymmetric), episodic or pulsation-driven mass loss, and the role of circumstellar shells in shaping planetary nebulae and contributing to galactic chemical evolution.
Using NASA's SPHEREx space telescope, astronomers have observed remnants of the eruption of Nova Persei 1901. As a result, they detected a bipolar molecular hydrogen shell around this nova, which may be a large planetary ...
When most people think of a supernova, they're thinking of a Type II core-collapse supernova. These are massive stars that have reached the end of their time on the main sequence. They've used up their supply of hydrogen ...
Astronomy
Mar 5, 2026
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Just in time for Valentine's Day, space offers a heart-shaped greeting. The star Mira A, about 300 light-years from Earth, has released material into an expanding cloud of gas and dust resembling a heart. Both the amount ...
Astronomy
Feb 11, 2026
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This stunning image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope reveals a dramatic interplay of light and shadow in the Egg Nebula, sculpted by freshly ejected stardust. Located approximately 1,000 light-years away in the constellation ...
Astronomy
Feb 10, 2026
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Astronomers have captured the first radio waves ever detected from a rare class of exploding star, a discovery that has given them an unprecedented look into the final years of a massive star before its death in a powerful ...
Astronomy
Jan 27, 2026
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Gas and dust flowing from stars can, under the right conditions, clash with a star's surroundings and create a shock wave. Now, astronomers using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT) have imaged ...
Astronomy
Jan 12, 2026
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In November 1572, a brilliant new star appeared in the constellation Cassiopeia, shining so brightly that it was visible during the day. Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe carefully documented this celestial phenomenon, and the ...
Astronomy
Oct 27, 2025
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Astronomers have discovered a vast and expanding bubble of gas and dust surrounding a red supergiant star—the largest structure of its kind ever seen in the Milky Way. The bubble, which contains as much mass as the sun, ...
Astronomy
Aug 5, 2025
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The swirling, paint-like clouds in the darkness of space in this stunning image seem surreal, like a portal to another world opening up before us. In fact, the subject of this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is very ...
Astronomy
Apr 11, 2025
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This image of the Helix Nebula, released on March 4, 2025, shows a potentially destructive white dwarf at the nebula's center; this star may have destroyed a planet. This has never been seen before—and could explain a mysterious ...
Astronomy
Apr 2, 2025
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