New planet discovered in Trinary star system

Until recently, astronomers were highly skeptical of whether or not planets should be possible in multiple star systems. It was expected that the constantly varying gravitational force would eventually tug the planet out ...

Measuring the clumpiness of proto-planetary disks

(PhysOrg.com) -- The process of star formation, once thought to involve just the simple coalescence of material under the influence of gravity, actually entails a complex series of stages, with the youngest stars assembling ...

Imaging a multiple star

(PhysOrg.com) -- Multiple stars - binaries, triplets, or perhaps more stars, that orbit each other - are unique laboratories into the interactions between stars and their early environments.

Astronomers discover Kepler's trinity

NASA's revolutionary Kepler satellite has discovered a unique triply eclipsing triple star, reports an international team of astronomers.

Companion stars could cause unexpected X-rays

Many types of main sequence stars emit in the X-ray portion of the spectra. In massive stars, strong stellar winds ripping through the extended atmosphere of the star create X-ray photons. On lower mass stars, magnetic fields ...

Pulsating star mystery solved

(PhysOrg.com) -- By discovering the first double star where a pulsating Cepheid variable and another star pass in front of one another, an international team of astronomers has solved a decades-old mystery. The rare alignment ...

Astronomers find first planet from another galaxy (w/ Video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- An exoplanet orbiting a star that entered our Milky Way from another galaxy has been detected by a European team of astronomers using the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile. ...

Imaging the planet-sized companion of a nearby star

(PhysOrg.com) -- Of the nearly 500 extra-solar planets that have been confirmed to date, only about a dozen have actually been seen in images. Because planets are so much fainter than their host stars, special techniques ...

Eclipsing pulsar promises clues to crushed matter

Astronomers using NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) have found the first fast X-ray pulsar to be eclipsed by its companion star. Further studies of this unique stellar system will shed light on some of the most compressed ...

Astronomers study Kuiper Belt object during stellar occultation

(PhysOrg.com) -- Until now, astronomers have used telescopes to find Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs), moon-sized bodies, and obtain their spectra to determine what types of ices are on their surface. They have also used thermal-imaging ...

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