Stars, as physical systems, are self-gravitating, approximately hydrostatic spheres of plasma in which energy is generated predominantly by thermonuclear fusion in their cores and transported outward by radiation and/or convection. Their structure is governed by the equations of stellar structure, balancing gravity, gas and radiation pressure, and energy transport. Stellar properties such as mass, composition, and rotation determine their internal stratification, nucleosynthetic pathways, luminosity, temperature, and evolutionary tracks. Stars interact with their environments via radiation, stellar winds, and mass loss, and they serve as fundamental sites of element synthesis and key components of galactic and cosmological structure.
Neutron stars are so named because in the simplest of models they are made of neutrons. They form when the core of a large star collapses, and the weight of gravity causes atoms to collapse. Electrons are squeezed together ...
Astronomy
Dec 16, 2024
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Stars are born, live and die in spectacular ways, with their deaths marked by one of the biggest known explosions in the universe. Like a campfire needs wood to keep burning, a star relies on nuclear fusion—primarily using ...
Astronomy
Dec 12, 2024
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Dyson spheres and rings have always held a special fascination for me. The concept is simple: build a great big structure either as a sphere or ring to harness the energy from a star. Dyson rings are far more simple and feasible ...
Astronomy
Dec 10, 2024
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Could a decades-long debate about the mysterious movements of stars in Omega Centauri, the largest star cluster in the Milky Way, finally be resolved?
Astronomy
Dec 9, 2024
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Black holes are one of the most enigmatic stellar objects. While best known for swallowing up their surroundings into a gravity pit from which nothing can escape, they can also shoot off powerful jets of charged particles, ...
Astronomy
Nov 18, 2024
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An international team of astronomers has conducted a multiwavelength study of an X-ray binary designated 1eRASS J085039.9-421151. Results of the study, published Nov. 4 on the preprint server arXiv, yield new information ...
When we think of exoplanets that may be able to support life, we home in on the habitable zone. A habitable zone is a region around a star where planets receive enough stellar energy to have liquid surface water. It's a somewhat ...
Astrobiology
Nov 6, 2024
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The temperature of elementary particles has been observed in the radioactive glow following the collision of two neutron stars and the birth of a black hole. This has, for the first time, made it possible to measure the microscopic, ...
Astronomy
Oct 30, 2024
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Newborn stars are surrounded by disks of gas and dust within which planets are born, known as protoplanetary disks. In the Orion Nebula, the brightest and most massive stars emit intense ultraviolet radiation that illuminates ...
Astronomy
Oct 28, 2024
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Using the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) and various ground-based telescopes, an international team of astronomers have performed observations of a strong X-ray superflare which occurred in 2022 on a giant ...
