galaxy

(Newser) - A  pair of Princeton astronomers have become the first people ever to witness the explosive death of a star, Space.com reports. The pair were observing another supernova in its later stages when they happened to spot a huge burst of X-rays 90 million light years away. Astronomers believe their...

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered the remains of the youngest exploding star, or supernova, ever seen in the Milky Way, shedding new light on the life cycles of stars. The baby supernova G1.9+0.3 is a mere 140 years old, reports National Geographic. Supernovas are a vital component of galaxy development...

(Newser) - Bill Gates and Bill Simonyi—space geeks and Microsoft billionaires both—are donating $30 million to the Chilean-based Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, the Guardian reports. The $400 million endeavor, scheduled to be working in 2015, will snap pics of the sky with a 3,200 megapixel digital camera every 15...

(Newser) - Astronomers have added 14 “invisible galaxies” to their map of the heavens, thanks to an imaginative breakthrough and a massive telescope. Researchers realized that some galaxies might be hidden by the bright lights of quasars behind them, so they scanned quasar data for “dips” where those lights might...