The light did not fade the way it was supposed to. After blazing into view about a billion light-years from Earth, the ...

The discovery of a newborn magnetar inside a distant supernova helps explain why some stellar explosions shine far brighter ...

New research suggests that the highly magnetized remnants of stars are responsible for powering some of the universe’s most brilliant supernova explosions ...

Astronomers have discovered a strange new signal coming from an exploding star — a “chirp” that speeds up over time, similar to the signals seen when black holes collide. The unusual pattern appeared ...

Astronomers have identified the first clear evidence of a magnetar forming during a superluminous supernova, offering new insight into some of the brightest explosions in the universe.

Some of the most extreme explosions in the universe are Type I superluminous supernovae. “They are one of the brightest ...

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.

A new study explains how some supernovae are particularly dazzling—the glow from a magnetic, spinning ball of neutrons called a magnetar. An assist from Einstein is what settled the case ...

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.

For many years, astronomers have relied on distant supernovae as cosmic beacons to study the universe and test the laws of physics. But while ...

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

WASHINGTON - A supernova - the explosion marking the end of a massive star's life - is one of the brightest cosmic events, ...