Transient and explosive astronomical phenomena constitute a research area focused on short-lived, high-energy events in the universe, such as supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, tidal disruption events, kilonovae, and fast radio bursts. This field investigates the underlying physical mechanisms driving rapid energy release, including relativistic jets, shock breakout, nucleosynthesis, compact object mergers, and accretion-induced instabilities. Research integrates multiwavelength and multimessenger observations (electromagnetic spectra, gravitational waves, neutrinos) with numerical simulations and theoretical modeling to constrain progenitor systems, energy budgets, radiative transfer processes, and environmental impact, including feedback on galactic evolution and the production of heavy elements.
Astronomers using the U.S. National Science Foundation Very Large Array (NSF VLA) have detected an extraordinary burst of radio light from a rare cosmic event in which an intermediate-mass black hole tears apart a star, revealing ...
Astronomy
Jul 8, 2026
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An international team led by Stefanie Komossa from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR) in Bonn has studied a galaxy that has been shining exceptionally brightly in the radio regime for more than eight years. ...
Astronomy
Jul 5, 2026
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211
Short-lived sources of radio radiation in the sky, known as radio transients, can originate in the vicinity of supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies. They are the result of processes that take place under extreme ...
Astronomy
Jul 3, 2026
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167
A three-armed spacecraft rocketed into orbit Friday to rescue a NASA telescope that's in danger of crashing back to Earth.
Space Exploration
Jul 3, 2026
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37
A rush rescue mission to save a NASA space telescope remains grounded, this time because of a last-minute launch problem.
Space Exploration
Jul 2, 2026
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33
On Jan. 26, 2026, the Submillimeter Array (SMA) on Maunakea crossed an important threshold for time-domain astronomy. For the first time, scientists from the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) demonstrated ...
Astronomy
Jun 30, 2026
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36
NASA is set to launch a daring robotic rescue mission, a long-shot bid to prevent one of its aging telescopes from vanishing into dust.
Space Exploration
Jun 30, 2026
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26
Researchers in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at Texas Tech University recently used audio to represent the spectacular explosion of a star in deep space while also delving into the data to better understand how the ...
Astronomy
Jun 29, 2026
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9
Astronomers have uncovered new details about the black hole that ripped apart a star in a tidal disruption event named AT2024tvd. Findings suggest it is a wandering supermassive black hole—the kind that is not located at ...
Astronomers have reported the discovery of an unusual X-ray transient detected by the Einstein Probe that does not fit any known class of cosmic explosions. The paper presenting its multiwavelength analysis was published ...
