astrophysics articles
What force is causing the nebula to get denser and hotter?
Vast, diffuse clouds of interstellar gas and dust, known as nebulae, are the stellar nurseries of the cosmos, yet they a...
What happens to a star when it stops fusing iron?
The moment a massive star ceases to fuse iron in its core is not a gradual dimming, but the immediate prelude to cosmic ...
Where do all stars start to form?
The beginning of a star is a dramatic event, yet it occurs in the coldest, darkest corners of the galaxy, far from the b...
How does star formation differ in elliptical and spiral galaxies?
The character of a galaxy, from its shape to the color of its light, is deeply tied to its history of star formation. Wh...
How does a star become a dwarf star?
Stars have a diverse range of endpoints dictated almost entirely by their initial mass, but the transformation into a sp...
Why do planetary nebulas have so many different shapes?
The vast, glowing clouds known as planetary nebulas present a stunning array of forms across the night sky, from simple ...
Why is a star stable during the main sequence period of its life cycle?
The vast majority of a star’s existence, the span during which it shines with a steady light, is spent on what astronome...
What will happen if two galaxies collide?
When two galaxies meet, the event is less of a violent crash and more of a slow, stately cosmic dance that spans hundred...
What slows the contraction of a star-forming cloud?
The process by which a vast, cold, tenuous cloud of gas and dust gives birth to a star is fundamentally a contest: the r...
What were stars before they were stars?
The material that eventually ignited to become the universe’s first stars existed in a state profoundly different from t...
How does a protostar generate energy?
The creation of a star is not an instantaneous event but a drawn-out, tumultuous adolescence where gravity wrestles with...
What kind of evidence suggests that there is not much star formation happening in elliptical galaxies?
The visual contrast between different galaxy types immediately suggests differences in their current activity levels. Sp...
Why do red supergiants explode?
The fiery demise of a red supergiant star is one of the most spectacular and violent events in the cosmos, marking the a...
What happens to a star's core during a supernova?
The final moments for a truly massive star are less a slow fading and more an abrupt, catastrophic implosion, the prelud...
What is the core after a supernova called?
The final object left behind after a massive star exhausts its fuel and explodes in a supernova is one of the universe's...
What is the remaining debris from a supernova called?
The material left behind after a star meets its dramatic end—a supernova explosion—is known by a specific name: the **su...
Why is it highly unlikely that any of the stars in a globular cluster would have planets?
The very idea of a star system existing within a dense globular cluster often feels counterintuitive, given our familiar...
Why do supernova remnants glow?
The glowing remnants left behind after a star violently ends its life—a supernova—are among the most spectacular sights ...
Why do red giants cool?
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What happens when a blue star dies?
The demise of a massive, brilliant blue star is one of the most spectacular and consequential events in the cosmos. Thes...
Why do stars emit radiation?
The glow we see when we look up at the night sky is the result of immense, continuous energy generation happening trilli...
How do scientists count stars?
Counting the stars is one of astronomy’s oldest fascinations, yet for scientists today, it remains an exercise in educat...