White dwarf stars are the final evolutionary state of most stars. They are everywhere in the Galaxy and are relatively easy to model. So can we learn about our Galaxy solely by studying them? The authors of today’s paper show us a way.
Image credits: ESO/Y. Beletsky.
When stars move on to their final stages of life, the habitable zone around them moves outward, putting planets like Jupiter and Saturn into the habitable zone. Do these outer planets have enough time to develop life before the star dies?
Deep imaging of a nearby dwarf galaxy reveals a new globular cluster.
Stars and gas waltz across galactic nuclei as star formation proceeds. Let’s see how well they dance!
Recent surveys of the sky showed the presence of stars that seem to be too young for the population that they belong to. In today’s bite, we will see that cannibalism between two very close stars could be a viable way to produce these curious objects.
What can this planet tell us about the evolution of planetary systems?