Young stellar objects (YSOs) as a research area encompass the observational and theoretical study of stars in their early evolutionary phases, from deeply embedded protostars to pre-main-sequence stars such as T Tauri and Herbig Ae/Be objects. This field investigates accretion processes, circumstellar disks, jets and outflows, variability, and the interaction of YSOs with their natal molecular environments across multiple wavelengths (X-ray to radio). Research on YSOs constrains star formation efficiencies, timescales, initial mass functions, and disk evolution, providing critical boundary conditions for models of planet formation and feedback-regulated galactic star formation.
Massive stars much bigger than our sun always come in pairs or groups, not alone. But astronomers don't fully understand how these groupings form. In a new study, astronomers using ALMA have serendipitously discovered a young ...
Stars form when vast clouds of cold gas in space collapse under their own gravity. But not all gas collapses, and not all clouds form stars equally efficiently. A longstanding puzzle in astrophysics is what controls this ...
Astronomy
Jun 22, 2026
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Italian astronomers have used the Very Large Telescope (VLT) to perform polarimetric observations of the star WRAY 15-1880 and its young circumstellar disk. Results of the new observations, presented June 10 on the arXiv ...
A debate has been raging among planetary scientists for more than a decade—why are there so few exoplanets with a radius of about 1.8 times that of Earth? Exoplanets are currently largely grouped into two distinct categories—"super-Earths" ...
Planetary Sciences
Jun 14, 2026
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For this NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope Picture of the Month, we return to the constellation Orion (the Hunter), a location familiar to Webb. This area of the sky is replete with star-forming clouds that make up ...
Astronomy
Jun 5, 2026
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The rotation of a protoplanetary disk (a disk where planets are being formed) has been observed directly for the very first time by mapping the emissions from the dust grains within it. The disk in question surrounds the ...
Astronomy
Jun 1, 2026
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It's 2234, you're on your annual class field trip touring exoplanets, and your teacher informs everyone they can pick one more exoplanetary system to explore before heading back to Earth. You and your classmates are exhausted ...
Astronomy
Jun 1, 2026
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Life exists because elements combine to form complex organic molecules. Astrochemistry studies this process, trying to understand how nature creates carbon-based molecules critical for life. One source for these types of ...
Astrobiology
May 31, 2026
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Our sun is a bit of an outlier in the general stellar population. We typically think of stars as being solitary wanderers throughout the galaxy. But roughly half of sun-like stars are locked in with more than one companion ...
Astronomy
May 1, 2026
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A star's mass determines its entire life story, from how it shines to how it dies. For young stars shrouded in dust, getting an accurate mass has long been difficult, but new radio measurements are beginning to change that. ...
Astronomy
Apr 24, 2026
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