Astronomers have observed what they are calling a new type of supernova, which has provided an unparalleled glimpse into what happens deep within a star just before it explodes. A study detailing the ...

The exploding stars known as Type Ia supernovae serve an important role in measuring the universe, and were used to discover the existence of dark energy. They’re bright enough to see across large ...

Editor’s note: This article was originally published Aug. 13, 2025, and has been updated to include new text and illustrations featured in the January 2026 issue of Astronomy. Using an artificial ...

Peering deeply into the cosmos, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is giving scientists their first detailed glimpse of supernovae from a time when our universe was just a small fraction of its current ...

It’s easy to forget that stars, just like us, have lifetimes. They’re born, they live, and eventually, they die. And for some stars, their death is dramatic, producing an explosion so powerful it can ...

Since the Chandrasekhar limit is always at 1.4 solar masses, this would explain why Type Ia supernovae always have the same maximum brightness. But as we've observed ever more supernovae, we've ...

BERKELEY, CA — A group of scientists affiliated with the SuperNova Legacy Survey (SNLS) have found startling evidence that there is more than one kind of Type Ia supernova, a class of exploding stars ...

EVANSTON, Ill. — Astronomers have observed what they are calling a new type of supernova, which has provided an unparalleled glimpse into what happens deep within a star just before it explodes. A ...

So, instead, supernovae are categorized by observed characteristics such as the light curves of how they brighten and fade ...