stellar companion

Record breaker! The Milky Way’s most monstrous black hole is a sleeping giant lurking close to Earth

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The Milky Way has a large newly discovered black hole, and it’s lurking close to Earth! This sleeping giant was discovered with the European space telescope Gaia, which tracks the movement of billions of stars in our Milky Way. Stellar-mass black holes form when a large star runs out of fuel and collapses. The new … Read more

These supernovae create a storm and contribute to cosmic life and death

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Astronomers have discovered a previously unknown source of cosmic dust. Why is it important to detect this dust? Well, these particles actually act as building blocks for stars. The international team found that such dust can be created by a type of cosmic explosion that occurs when a dead white dwarf star removes material from … Read more