http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/stars/ News about Stars. Read science articles and see images on the birth of monstrous stars, brown dwarfs and red giants. Consider stellar evolution and more. en-us Tue, 13 May 2008 09:05:01 EDT Tue, 13 May 2008 09:05:01 EDT 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/stars/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080509101622.htm New research on the Antennae Galaxies shows that this benchmark pair of interacting galaxies is in fact much closer than previously thought -- 45 million light-years instead of 65 million light-years. Fri, 09 May 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080509101622.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502133106.htm A team of scientists will expend 22 million computational hours during the next year on one of the world's most powerful supercomputers, simulating an event that takes less than five seconds. This astrophysics work explores how the laws of nature unfold in natural phenomena at unimaginably extreme temperatures and pressures. The Blue Gene/P supercomputer will serve as one of their primary tools for studying exploding stars. Sat, 03 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502133106.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502112754.htm Astrophysicists now say the fate of stars that venture too close to massive black holes could be even more violent than previously believed. Not only are they crushed by the black hole's huge gravity, but the process can also trigger a nuclear explosion that tears the star apart from within. In addition, shock waves in the pancake star carry a brief and very high peak of temperature outwards, that could give rise to a new type of X-ray or gamma-ray bursts. Fri, 02 May 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502112754.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501112209.htm Astronomers have predicted and confirmed the existence of a new type of variable star, with the help of the 2.1-meter Otto Struve Telescope at McDonald Observatory. Called a "pulsating carbon white dwarf," this is the first new class of variable white dwarf star discovered in more than 25 years. Because the overwhelming majority of stars in the universe--including the sun--will end their lives as white dwarfs, studying the pulsations (i.e., variations in light output) of these newly discovered examples gives astronomers a window on an important end point in the lives of most stars. Thu, 01 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501112209.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080430112525.htm Astronomers have discovered a timing mechanism that allows them to predict exactly when a superdense star will unleash incredibly powerful explosions. The explosions occur on a neutron star, which is a city-sized remnant of a giant star that exploded in a supernova. But despite the neutron star’s small size, it contains more material than our sun. Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080430112525.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428140351.htm Some of the oldest objects in the Universe may still have a long way to go, according to a new study using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. These new results indicate that globular clusters might be surprisingly less mature in their development than previously thought. Globular clusters are incredibly dense bunches of up to millions of stars that are found in the outskirts of galaxies, including the Milky Way. They are among the oldest known objects in the Universe, with most estimates of their ages ranging from 9 to 13 billions of years old. Understanding the nature of globular clusters is very important as they are thought to contain some of the first stars to form in a galaxy. Tue, 29 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428140351.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080424092756.htm Interacting galaxies are found throughout the Universe, sometimes as dramatic collisions that trigger bursts of star formation, on other occasions as stealthy mergers that result in new galaxies. Galaxy mergers, which were more common in the early Universe than they are today, are thought to be one of the main driving forces for cosmic evolution, turning on quasars, sparking frenetic star births and explosive stellar deaths. Sun, 27 Apr 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080424092756.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080424092743.htm Astronomers are looking to identify Earth-like watery worlds circling distant stars from a glint of light seen through an optical space telescope and a newly developed mathematical method. Sat, 26 Apr 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080424092743.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080416141356.htm A new image from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer shows baby stars sprouting in the backwoods of a galaxy -- a relatively desolate region of space more than 100,000 light-years from the galaxy's bustling center. The striking image shows the Southern Pinwheel galaxy, also known simply as M83. Fri, 18 Apr 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080416141356.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080415101016.htm By studying in great detail the 'ringing' of a planet-harboring star, a team of astronomers have shown that it must have drifted away from the metal-rich Hyades cluster. This discovery has implications for theories of star and planet formation, and for the dynamics of our Milky Way. Thu, 17 Apr 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080415101016.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080415160358.htm Astronomers have identified huge star streams in the outskirts of two nearby spiral galaxies. For the first time, they have obtained a panoramic overview of an example of galactic cannibalism similar to that involving the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy in the vicinity of the Milky Way. The detection of these immense stellar fossils confirms the predictions of the cold dark matter model of cosmology, which proposes that present-day grand design spiral galaxies were formed from the merging of less massive stellar systems. Wed, 16 Apr 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080415160358.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080410200302.htm NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has photographed the fading optical counterpart of a powerful gamma ray burst that holds the record for being the intrinsically brightest naked-eye object ever seen from Earth. For nearly a minute on March 19, this single "star" was as bright as 10 million galaxies. Hubble Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) images of GRB 080319B, taken on Monday, April 7, show the fading optical counterpart of the titanic blast. Tue, 15 Apr 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080410200302.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080411091744.htm Millions of clustered stars glisten like an iridescent opal in a new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Called Omega Centauri, this sparkling orb of stars is like a miniature galaxy. It is the biggest and brightest of the more than 150 similar objects, called globular clusters, that orbit around the outside of our Milky Way galaxy. Stargazers at southern latitudes can spot the stellar gem with the naked eye in the constellation Centaurus. Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080411091744.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080410101146.htm An international team of astronomers has discovered the coldest brown dwarf star ever observed. This finding, to be published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, is a new step toward filling the gap between stars and planets. Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080410101146.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080404200325.htm An ambitious study of active and inactive galaxies has given new insights into the complex interaction between super-massive black holes at the heart of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and star formation in the surrounding galaxy. Astronomers studied the properties of light from 360,000 galaxies in the local Universe to understand the relationship between accreting black holes, the birth of stars in galaxy centres and the evolution of the galaxies as a whole. Wed, 09 Apr 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080404200325.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402160844.htm A surprising analysis of material churned up from the depths of massive stars shows that the mixing processes in these hot, bright stars are much more complicated than thought. The study used the FLAMES instrument on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) to decipher the spectra of light emitted by over 800 stars and estimate the chemical composition of the stars' surfaces. This is the most extensive survey of massive stars ever undertaken. Mon, 07 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402160844.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401153910.htm Astronomers have found a clutch of jets from newborn brown dwarfs, bringing the total of these intriguing objects found to 4. New stars form in cold clouds of gas and dust. These so-called stellar nurseries are not only home to forming stars (protostars) but also harbour forming brown dwarfs. Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401153910.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402093419.htm Omega Centauri has been known as an unusual globular cluster for a long time. It turns out that the explanation behind Omega Centauri's peculiarities may be an elusive intermediate-mass black hole hidden in its center. Intermediate-mass black holes could turn out to be "baby" supermassive black holes. Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402093419.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402201541.htm Using a revolutionary new camera, UK astronomers have a real chance of being the first to find Earth-like planets around other stars. Since the early 1990s, astronomers have found more than 200 planets in orbit around stars other than our Sun (so-called 'extrasolar' planets). These have been detected through two techniques that are particularly sensitive to massive planets in orbit close to their parent star. Thu, 03 Apr 2008 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402201541.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080331112033.htm The latest image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reveals a sharp view of the spiral galaxy NGC 2397. This image also shows a rare Hubble view of the early stages of a supernova -- SN 2006bc, discovered in March 2006. Thu, 03 Apr 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080331112033.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402153613.htm Using radio observatories in the UK and US and computer simulations, a team of astronomers have identified the youngest forming planet yet seen. "The new object, designated HL Tau b, is the youngest planetary object ever seen and is just 1 percent as old as the young planet found in orbit around the star TW Hydrae that made the news last year. HL Tau b gives a unique view of how planets take shape, because the VLA image also shows the parent disk material from which it formed," one of the astronomers said. Wed, 02 Apr 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402153613.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401141549.htm Using a new technique, NASA scientists have identified the lightest known black hole. With a mass only about 3.8 times greater than our Sun and a diameter of only 15 miles, the black hole lies very close to the minimum size predicted for black holes that originate from dying stars. Despite the diminutive size of this new record holder, future space travelers had better beware. Smaller black holes like the one in J1650 exert stronger tidal forces than the much larger black holes found in the centers of galaxies, which make the little guys more dangerous to approach. "If you ventured too close to J1650's black hole, its gravity would tidally stretch your body into a strand of spaghetti," says one of the astronomers. Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401141549.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401152953.htm New measurements from some of the most distant galaxies bolster the evidence that the strongest burst of star formation in the history of the Universe occurred about two billion years after the Big Bang. Astronomers have found evidence for a dramatic surge in star birth in a newly discovered population of massive galaxies in the early Universe. Wed, 02 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401152953.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401155107.htm Two "supernova factories", rare clusters of Red Supergiant (RSG) stars, have been located in the Galactic Bar of the Milky Way. "RSGs represent the final brief stage in a massive star's lifecycle before it goes supernova. They are very rare objects, so to find this many in the same place is remarkable. Together they contain 40 RSGs, which is nearly 20% of all the known RSGs in the Milky Way. These stars are all at the brink of going supernova," said one of the astronomers. Wed, 02 Apr 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401155107.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080331191002.htm The Pleiades star cluster will have a beautiful encounter with the slender moon in the western sky after sunset on April 8. Usually the moon's brightness overpowers nearby stars, but not when it's such a thin crescent. Binoculars will reveal the spectacle as the moon passes just below the famous Seven Sisters. The Pleiades are lovely by themselves, and on a clear night they can be seen with the unaided eye in the constellation Taurus the Bull. Known prehistorically, the cluster is identified as a group of women in many cultures around the world, from Australian Aborigine to Native American. Tue, 01 Apr 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080331191002.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401095218.htm An international team of astronomers called "SuperWASP" has found 10 new "extra solar" planets, planets that orbit stars other than our sun. The team used a system of robotic cameras that yield a great deal of information about these other worlds, some of which are quite exotic. The flood of new discoveries from SuperWASP will revolutionize understanding of how planets form. Tue, 01 Apr 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401095218.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080331135542.htm Astronomers have spied a faraway star system that is so unusual, it was one of a kind -- until its discovery helped them pinpoint a second one that was much closer to home. Astronomers believe that these star systems are the progenitors of a rare type of supernova. Tue, 01 Apr 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080331135542.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080326103544.htm The world's major telescopes will be observing the white dwarf star IU Vir in the constellation Virgo for three weeks beginning on March 26. A white dwarf is a star that is “dying,” cooling down in the twilight of its life. It's what the sun will become in about 4 billion years. Thu, 27 Mar 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080326103544.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080326123135.htm Astrophysicists have a new window into the formation of planets. Astronomers have imaged a structure within the disk of material coalescing from the gas and dust cloud surrounding a well-studied star, AB Aurigae. Within that structure, it appears that an object is forming, either a small body currently accreting dust or a brown dwarf (a body intermediate between stars and planets) between 5 and 37 times the mass of Jupiter. Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080326123135.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080319140759.htm The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has made the first detection ever of an organic molecule in the atmosphere of a planet orbiting another star. This breakthrough is an important step in eventually identifying signs of life on a planet outside our Solar System. Wed, 19 Mar 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080319140759.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080312142357.htm In a find that sheds light on how Earth-like planets may form, astronomers say they have found the first evidence of small, sandy particles orbiting a newborn star system at about the same distance as the Earth orbits the sun. The researchers confirmed the find with light reflected from the sand itself, which is about 2,400 light years from Earth in a two-star system called KH-15D. Sun, 16 Mar 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080312142357.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080314163401.htm For the first time, astronomers have observed the initial phase in the formation of an earth-like planet. Astronomers observed that a protoplanetary disk, or ring, around the binary star known as KH 15D, is composed of solid particles larger than what is usually observed in space. For hundreds of years, scientists have been theorizing that Earth-like planets form when gas and dust around a star get compressed into these disks and the material begins to coalesce into planets. Sat, 15 Mar 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080314163401.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080313141418.htm Researchers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have discovered large amounts of simple organic gases and water vapor in a possible planet-forming region around an infant star, along with evidence that these molecules were created there. They've also found water in the same zone around two other young stars. Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080313141418.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080310131505.htm New studies may vindicate a 300-year-old astronomical 'mistake.' Astronomers have announced that low-mass stars and possibly even super-Jupiter-sized planets may be responsible for creating some of the most breathtaking objects in the sky. The news is ironic because the name "planetary" nebula has always been considered a misnomer. Mon, 10 Mar 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080310131505.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080307121613.htm A rocky planet similar to Earth may be orbiting one of our nearest stellar neighbors and could be detected using existing techniques, according to astronomers. The closest stars to our Sun are in the three-star system called Alpha Centauri, a popular destination for interstellar travel in works of science fiction. Computer simulations of planet formation show that terrestrial planets are likely to have formed around the star Alpha Centauri B and to be orbiting in the "habitable zone" where liquid water can exist on the planet's surface. Such planets could be observed using a dedicated telescope. Fri, 07 Mar 2008 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080307121613.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080304125346.htm Probing a glowing bubble of gas and dust encircling a dying star, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope reveals a wealth of previously unseen structures. The object, called NGC 2371, is a planetary nebula, the glowing remains of a Sun-like star. The remnant star visible at the center of NGC 2371 is the super-hot core of the former red giant, now stripped of its outer layers. Its surface temperature is a scorching 240,000 degrees Fahrenheit. NGC 2371 lies about 4,300 light-years away in the constellation Gemini. Wed, 05 Mar 2008 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080304125346.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080226092800.htm Imagine looking at a tree through eyeglasses that only allow red light to pass through. The tree is going to look a lot different than how it would look without the glasses. The same goes for a galaxy when astronomers look at it through different types of telescopes. This new image from NASA’s Swift satellite demonstrates what happens when astronomers look at a galaxy in ultraviolet light rather than the visible light that we see with our eyes. Swift took the image through a series of filters that only let in ultraviolet light. We cannot see ultraviolet light with our eyes, but we can feel its effects: it gives us sunburn if we stay out in the Sun too long on a bright, sunny day. Wed, 27 Feb 2008 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080226092800.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080225133649.htm Astronomers have discovered that the sun-like star tau Bootis flipped its magnetic field from north to south sometime during the last year. It has been known for many years that the Sun's magnetic field changes its direction every 11 years, but this is the first time that such a change has been observed in another star. Magnetic field reversals on the sun are closely linked to the varying number of sunspots seen on the sun's surface. Tue, 26 Feb 2008 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080225133649.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080221085019.htm ESA's Integral has made the first unambiguous discovery of high-energy X-rays coming from a rare massive star at our cosmic doorstep, Eta Carinae. It is one of the most violent places in the galaxy, producing vast winds of electrically-charged particles colliding at speeds of thousands of kilometers per second. The only astronomical object that emits gamma-rays and is observable by the naked eye, Eta Carinae is monstrously large, so large that astronomers call it a hypergiant. It contains between 100--150 times the mass of the Sun and glows more brightly than four million Suns put together. Astronomers know that it is not a single star, but a binary, with a second massive star orbiting the first. Fri, 22 Feb 2008 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080221085019.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080221140724.htm The youngest known pulsing neutron star has thrown a temper tantrum. The collapsed star occasionally unleashes powerful bursts of X-rays, which are forcing astronomers to rethink the life cycle of neutron stars. What is the evolutionary relationship between pulsars and magnetars? Astronomers would like to know if magnetars represent a rare class of pulsars, or if some or all pulsars go through a magnetar phase during their life cycles. Fri, 22 Feb 2008 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080221140724.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080217102133.htm Astronomers have discovered that terrestrial planets might form around many, if not most, of the nearby sun-like stars in the disk of our galaxy. At least one in five nearby solar-mass stars may form terrestrial worlds. These new results suggest that worlds with potential for life might be more common than thought. Mon, 18 Feb 2008 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080217102133.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080213133320.htm Using data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, scientists have reported the possible detection of a binary star system that was later destroyed in a supernova explosion. The new method they used provides great future promise for finding the detailed origin of these important cosmic events. The supernova, known as SN 2007on, was identified as a Type Ia supernova. Astronomers generally agree that Type Ia supernovas are produced by the explosion of a white dwarf star in a binary star system. However, the exact configuration and trigger for the explosion is unclear. Is the explosion caused by a collision between two white dwarfs, or because a white dwarf became unstable by pulling too much material off a companion star? Mon, 18 Feb 2008 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080213133320.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080212142525.htm Newborn stars peek out from beneath their natal blanket of dust in this dynamic image of the Rho Ophiuchi dark cloud from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Called "Rho Oph" by astronomers, it's one of the closest star-forming regions to our own solar system. Located near the constellations Scorpius and Ophiuchus, the nebula is about 407 light years away from Earth. Rho Oph is a complex made up of a large main cloud of molecular hydrogen, a key molecule allowing new stars to form from cold cosmic gas, with two long streamers trailing off in different directions. Thu, 14 Feb 2008 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080212142525.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080210183859.htm Taking advantage of the presence of light echoes, a team of astronomers have used an ESO telescope to measure, at the 1 percent precision level, the distance of a Cepheid -- a class of variable stars that constitutes one of the first steps in the cosmic distance ladder. Thu, 14 Feb 2008 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080210183859.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080212095443.htm The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, with a boost from a natural "zoom lens," has found the strongest evidence so far for a galaxy with a redshift significantly above 7. It is likely to be one of the youngest and brightest galaxies ever seen right after the cosmic "dark ages," just 700 million years after the beginning of our universe (redshift ~7.6). Wed, 13 Feb 2008 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080212095443.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080129125350.htm A strange and violent fate awaits a white dwarf star that wanders too close to a moderately massive black hole. According to a new study, the black hole's gravitational pull on the white dwarf would cause tidal forces sufficient to disrupt the stellar remnant and reignite nuclear burning in it, giving rise to a supernova explosion with an unusual appearance. Thu, 31 Jan 2008 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080129125350.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080128113256.htm A young star is speeding away from the Milky Way so fast that astronomers have been puzzled by where it came from; based on its young age it has traveled too far to have come from our galaxy. The researchers have determined that it came from our neighboring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud. The result suggests that it was ejected from that galaxy by a yet-to-be-observed massive black hole. Tue, 29 Jan 2008 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080128113256.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080114162455.htm Neutron stars can be considerably more massive than previously believed, and it is more difficult to form black holes, according to new research. In the cosmic continuum of dead, remnant stars, the astronomers have increased the mass limit for when neutron stars turn into black holes. Thu, 17 Jan 2008 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080114162455.htm