The newborn magnetar, a specific kind of neutron star, actually enhances the brightness of a supernova.

Astronomers have discovered that the birth of neutron stars with magnetic fields trillions of times stronger than Earth's magnetosphere is the "magic trick" behind superbright supernovas.

Researchers say the "powerful engine" behind superluminous exploding stars had been hidden for years — until a "chirp" from the cosmos helped confirm their link.

Their formation has been an object of debate, but new observations confirm the lead hypothesis: they are the product of incredibly bright supernovae. The rest of this article is behind a paywall.

New studies reveal how metallicity and stellar evolution determine whether massive stars expand into red supergiants prior to ...

A rare gravitationally lensed supernova could help astronomers determine how fast the universe is expanding and shed light on dark energy. Astronomers may be closer to understanding one of the ...

For decades, astronomers have used distant supernovae as cosmic lighthouses to test fundamental physics and to measure the ...

When most people think of a supernova, they're thinking of a Type II core-collapse supernova. These are massive stars that have reached the end of their time on the main sequence. They've used up ...

Some stars in our galaxy, known as hypervelocity stars, move much faster than most other stars in the Milky Way. In fact, they are traveling so fast that our galaxy’s gravity can’t hold onto them and ...

A supernova that erupted when a massive star died could have destroyed our infant solar system — if it weren't protected by a cocoon of molecular gas. When you purchase through links on our site, we ...

One of our universe's biggest stars has dramatically turned into a rare, yellow 'hypergiant' star, and astronomers aren't sure when it will go supernova.

A "guest star," briefly seen in 1181, was created by colliding dead stars, according to new simulations that may finally solve an 800-year-old cosmic mystery. When you purchase through links on our ...