The nova eruptions come about when a white dwarf steals too much matter from a close red giant companion.

A classical nova may look simple at first. A faint star brightens, sometimes enough for you to spot without a telescope, then slowly dims over weeks or months. Behind that short burst of light sits a ...

Cosmic detectives are investigating a case of mistaken stellar identity: An exploding star that was once thought to be the oldest recorded nova — a nuclear explosion on the surface of a dead star — ...

New observations made with APEX and other telescopes have now revealed that the star that European astronomers saw was not a nova, but a much rarer, violent breed of stellar collision. It was ...

First results from a new NASA-funded scientific instrument at the W. M. Keck Observatory at Mauna Kea, Hawaii, are helping scientists overturn long-standing assumptions about powerful explosions ...

After a stellar explosion was reported in 1866, British astronomer John Herschel announced he had seen a bright flare from the same location 24 years earlier. Herschel's claim was contested almost ...

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Cosmic detectives are investigating a case of mistaken stellar identity: An exploding star that ...