The SMITHSONIAN ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY is a part of the Smithsonian Institution which, in conjunction with the Harvard ...

Lots of things out in the universe can cause a supernova, from the gravitational ... light curves of how they brighten and fade and the types of elements identified in their spectra.

A supernova is one of the most powerful and mysterious ... By the mid-20th century, the discovery of two main types of ...

Scientists have found the heaviest known pair of dead stars in our galaxy — a rare system they believe will one day explode ...

More massive stars than the Sun have a very different life cycle and follow the right hand path in the diagram above: \({Nebula}\rightarrow{protostar}\rightarrow{main~sequence~star}\rightarrow{red ...

Notably, these two types of stars have different origins: a neutron star is formed when a massive star undergoes a supernova explosion, while a white dwarf emerges when a star with a low to medium ...

This "supernova archaeology" uncovered important clues about a star that self-destructed—probably more than a million years ago. Today, the system called GRO J1655-40 contains a black hole with ...