Stars

Zombie white dwarf stars keep their heavy metal exteriors fresh by constantly cannibalizing any smaller objects in their dead planetary systems, like comets and asteroids, that get in their way.

An erupting star system in Orion has finally provided an answer to the mystery of how stars fed for over 100 years, something that has puzzled astronomers for almost as long.

The molecular gas ejected by a dying star within the Southern Ring Nebula will one day be recycled into a new generation of stars and planets.

Astronomers finally know why giant binary stars born from the same collapsing cloud of gas and dust can be "non-identical twins" with different characteristics and planetary systems.

Swift is a multiwavelength space telescope that scientists are using to find out more about these mysterious gamma-ray flashes from the universe.

Some stars erupt with 'superflares' 10,000 times as powerful as solar flares from the sun. A team of "stellar detectives" are on the case and may now know why some stars are so violent.

Astronomers have discovered a flare erupting from a highly magnetic "dead star" outside the solar system for the first time. The magnetar flare lit up the entire Cigar Galaxy in gamma rays.

"Our estimated mass-loss rates can be used as a benchmark for stellar wind models and expand our limited observational evidence for the winds of sun-like stars."

The closest extreme magnetic dead star or magnetar to Earth suddenly burst back to life to give astronomers a sight of unexpected and unexplained phenomena that are unlike anything seen before.