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

In it, the “behemoth” star appears to puff out gas and dust, a critical final step before exploding in a supernova. The star, known as WOH G64, is 160,000 light-years from Earth in the Large ...

then you're close enough to the pre-supernova star to get a lethal dose of radiation, and you really should have moved away a long time ago. Next, there's visible light, which, while impressive ...

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 mass exhausts its nuclear fuel and sheds its outer layers.

How could they? A star from dozens of lightyears away was to blame for what would soon happen. Cosmic rays from a nearby ...

massive stars and reconstruct nearby star formation history. "It was only once we had completed the work that we realized we could also use the sample to estimate the supernova rate," said Wright.

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 ...

During the final stages in the life of a gargantuan star, its death throes culminate in a powerful thermonuclear blast — a supernova — that typically destroys the celestial object, unleashing ...

Other observations captured during those opening moments include a spectacular look at Wolf-Rayet 124 — a hot star riding on the verge of a supernova. Wolf-Rayet 124, or WR 124, is 15,000 light ...

The Serpens Nebula is a prime location for studying the formation of stars and planets. It is approximately 1,300 light-years from Earth.

A supernova is a cataclysmic stellar death that leaves behind a black hole or neutron star. It is the biggest, brightest, and most violent type of explosion scientists have observed in the universe.