Hundreds of millions — or even billions — of years after planets would have initially formed around two unusual stars, a second wave of planetesimal and planet formation appears to be taking place. "This is a new class of stars, ones that display conditions now ripe for formation of a second generation of planets, long, long after the stars themselves formed." picked by AutumnLotus 9 months ago

A class of "failed" star called a brown dwarf emits beams of radiation that are thousands of times brighter than any released by the Sun. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

The night sky has followed you your whole life. How much of it do you recognize?

Take this 15 minute lesson/quiz picked by DaftGretel 1 year ago

Astronomers think they’ve got a handle on how Sun-sized stars come together. But the formation of the largest stars - more than 10 times the mass of the Sun - still puzzle astronomers.

New observations may change that... picked by 2manyusernames 2 years ago

Sean Avery is a Dallas Star. The Stars has signed the free agent left wing to a four-year contract that will pay him a total of $15.5 million ($3.5 million next season, and $4 million in 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12).

Avery rubs some guys the wrong way, even guys in his own dressing room. And (Stars General Manager) Brett Hull is OK with that. picked by icepigs 3 months ago

Galaxies tend to give birth to their stars on the road, while travelling down intergalactic highways towards cosmic cities called galaxy clusters, new Spitzer Space Telescope observations reveal. Galaxies in relatively empty regions of the universe flock towards densely populated galaxy clusters, attracted there by the clusters' gravity. picked by AutumnLotus 8 months ago

Newborn stars peek out from beneath their natal blanket of dust in this dynamic image of the Rho Ophiuchi dark cloud from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Called "Rho Oph" by astronomers, it's one of the closest star-forming regions to our own solar system. Located near the constellations Scorpius and Ophiuchus, the nebula is about 407 light years away from Earth. picked by AutumnLotus 8 months ago

The colorful, intricate shapes in these NASA Hubble Space Telescope images reveal how the glowing gas ejected by dying Sun-like stars evolves dramatically over time. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

This is the second best start in franchise history. (One more win will tie best start)

Check out the video for a phenominal shoot-out shot by Ryan Shannon and even more phenominal stop by Turco! picked by icepigs 2 years ago

Newborn stars shine like celestial sparklers in a new portrait of the nearby Triangulum Galaxy – the most detailed ultraviolet image of a galaxy ever taken. Astronomers will use the image, taken by NASA's Swift telescope, to create an "age map" of the galaxy's components to understand how galaxies evolve over time. picked by AutumnLotus 7 months ago

What is the magic "X factor" that determines which stars become the biggest and brightest in the universe? The answer, new calculations suggest, is how dense their parent gas clouds are. Denser clouds heat up more evenly, preventing the clouds from fragmenting into lots of tiny stars and allowing one or two big stars to form instead. picked by AutumnLotus 7 months ago

What has appeared as a mild-mannered elliptical galaxy in previous studies is revealing its wild side in new images taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The Hubble photos show shells of stars around a bright quasar, known as MC2 1635+119, which dominates the center of the galaxy. The shells' presence indicates a titanic clash with another galaxy in the relatively recent past. picked by AutumnLotus 12 months ago

It confirms that Altair, one of the brightest stars in the night sky, is a rapidly spinning, non-spherical body. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

Microsoft’s answer to Google Sky, WorldWide Telescope promises to bring us even closer of the planets and stars in our universe. Here is the presentation on TED. The pplication will be available in Spring of 2008 free of charge. picked by wildminou 7 months ago

Astronomers are joining forces with environmentalists concerned about global warming, bird-watchers who warn that city lights confuse migratory species and officials eager to save energy. picked by tchengrox 10 months ago

A primitive star has been born in the heart of a computer, revealing how the basic building blocks of life were present soon after the Big Bang some 13.7 billion years ago. Stars convert light elements such as helium and hydrogen into the heavier elements necessary for life and it has often been remarked that human beings are glorified stardust. picked by AutumnLotus 2 months ago

By studying in great detail the 'ringing' of a planet-harbouring star, a team of astronomers using ESO's 3.6-m telescope have shown that it must have drifted away from the metal-rich Hyades cluster. This discovery has implications for theories of star and planet formation, and for the dynamics of our Milky Way. picked by AutumnLotus 6 months ago

A collection of Hubble Space Telescope images shows distant supernovas, the death explosions of massive stars. The top photos show each region before the explosion. The bottom row shows the explosions' aftermaths. picked by AutumnLotus 12 months ago