Related topics: galaxies · stars · black holes · white dwarfs · neutron stars

Image: X-raying a galaxy's stellar remnants

This colourful spread of light specks is in fact a record of extremely powerful phenomena taking place in a galaxy known as Messier 83, or M83. Located some 15 million light-years away, M83 is a barred spiral galaxy, not ...

Hubble sets sights on an explosive galaxy

When massive stars die at the end of their short lives, they light up the cosmos with bright, explosive bursts of light and material known as supernovae. A supernova event is incredibly energetic and intensely luminous—so ...

Chandra finds stellar duos banished from galaxies

Scientists have found evidence that pairs of stars have been kicked out of their host galaxies. This discovery, made using data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, is one of the clearest examples of stellar pairs being ...

First evidence of gigantic remains from star explosions

Astrophysicists have found the first ever evidence of gigantic remains being formed from repeated explosions on the surface of a dead star in the Andromeda Galaxy, 2.5 million light years from Earth. The remains or "super-remnant" ...

How do stellar binaries form?

Most stars with the mass of the sun or larger have one or more companion stars, but when and how these multiple stars form is one of the controversial central problems of astronomy. Gravity contracts the natal gas and dust ...

Astronomers propose a new method for detecting black holes

A stellar mass black hole is a compact object with a mass greater than three solar masses. It is so dense and has such a powerful force of attraction that not even light can escape from it. They cannot be observed directly, ...

page 9 from 23