Massive stars as a research area encompasses the theoretical, observational, and computational study of stars with initial masses typically ≥8–10 solar masses, focusing on their formation, internal structure, evolution, feedback, and endpoints. This field investigates radiative and mechanical feedback on the interstellar medium, nucleosynthesis and chemical enrichment, stellar winds, rotation, binarity, and magnetic fields, as well as the progenitors of core-collapse supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, and compact remnants. Research integrates multiwavelength observations, stellar evolution and hydrodynamic simulations, and population synthesis to constrain mass loss, convection, mixing processes, and the role of massive stars in galaxy evolution and cosmology.
Astronomers identified an exceptionally tiny core that may represent an early stage in the formation of a massive star. Located in an infrared-dark area called Dragon Cloud, the core is nicknamed the "dragon egg." The paper, ...
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has detected a possible supernova in the early universe just days after the star exploded. Called AT 2026abck, the transient lies in a star-forming galaxy at a redshift of 5.017 and was ...
Astronomers have observed the longest-lasting central engine activity ever recorded from a gamma-ray burst. The burst occurred at a redshift of 0.8577, and the activity lasted about 27 days in the burst's own rest frame—around ...
The center of the Milky Way galaxy is a chaotic place. In addition to the 4-million-solar-mass black hole known as Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the region is full of gas, dust, strong magnetic fields and stars in various stages ...
Astronomy
Oct 1, 2026
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As a star nears the end of its life, it faces two very different fates: It can explode as a supernova, leaving behind a neutron star, or collapse and become a black hole. What determines the outcome remains one of astrophysics' ...
Astronomy
Sep 24, 2026
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The more astronomers learn about the universe's earliest galaxies, the stranger they seem. Many of their surprising properties may be explained by differences between their massive stars and those in galaxies like our own ...
Astronomy
Sep 22, 2026
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Using data from the Japan–led XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) observatory, astronomers have directly observed a giant star's outflow, called a stellar wind, being captured by its compact companion and providing ...
Astronomy
Sep 21, 2026
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Of all the discoveries from the James Webb Space Telescope, the multitude of Little Red Dots it has observed is among the most enigmatic. Now, simulations using the Japanese Supercomputer ATERUI III have explained the nature ...
Astronomy
Sep 17, 2026
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A distant star has captured astronomers' attention over the past decade, teasing them with indications that it will soon explode as a supernova. But new research shows that something else entirely is behind the star's outbursts. ...
Astronomy
Sep 13, 2026
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A new study finds that two early-universe objects thought to be faint quasars are actually extraordinarily luminous galaxies powered by bursts of star formation. James Webb Space Telescope observations of the galaxies, seen ...
