All Stories by Ken Croswell
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AstronomyA gargantuan supernova remnant looks 40 times as big as the full moon
New observations confirm that a cloud in the constellation Antlia really is a supernova remnant and the largest ever seen from Earth.
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AstronomyThe number of Milky Way nova explosions per year has been pinned down
Knowing how frequently these stellar eruptions occur will help determine their contribution to the galaxy’s chemical makeup.
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AstronomyThe Milky Way’s central black hole may have turned nearby red giant stars blue
A powerful blast from the supermassive black hole at the Milky Way’s center may explain the lack of large, red stars there.
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SpaceDecember’s stunning Geminid meteor shower is born from a humble asteroid
Most meteor showers arise from comets, but the robust Geminid shower comes from an asteroid, Phaethon, which scientists are still trying to figure out.
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SpaceRunaway stars may create the mysterious ultraviolet glow around some galaxies
Hot blue stars kicked out of their birthplace can travel thousands of light-years to their galaxies’ hinterlands, new computer simulations show.
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SpaceThe Milky Way makes little galaxies bloom, then snuffs them out
When dwarf galaxies cross the Milky Way’s frontier, our galaxy compresses their gas, sparking star birth, but then robs them of their star-making gas.
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AstronomyThe Milky Way’s most massive star cluster may have eaten a smaller cluster
Observations of newfound stars suggest how the gathering of stars at the galaxy’s core grew so big.
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AstronomyThe star cluster closest to Earth is in its death throes
Gaia spacecraft observations of stars’ motion within and fleeing the cluster suggest the 680-million-year-old Hyades has only 30 million years left.
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SpaceHow tiny ‘dead’ galaxies get their groove back and make stars again
Computer simulations explain how puny galaxies can sustain star formation: Gas falls into them and billions of years later begins to create new stars.
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AstronomyHigh-speed gas collisions prevent star birth in galaxies’ bars
The spiral galaxy NGC 1300 makes few if any stars in its bright bar. Simulations suggest gas clouds colliding at high speed stunt star formation.
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SpaceAstronomers have found the edge of the Milky Way at last
Computer simulations and observations of nearby galaxies let astrophysicists put a firm number on the Milky Way's size.
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AstronomyMolecular oxygen has been spotted beyond the Milky Way for the first time
Astronomers have detected molecular oxygen in another galaxy for the first time. The discovery is only the third sighting beyond our solar system.