Thousands of light-years from Earth, the dramatic death throes of a giant star are playing out. It's part of a star system ...

We know that regular supernovas pose no existential threat to life on Earth in the near-term. But there are other varieties ...

But for a supernova to produce the strongest type of gamma-ray burst, the star must be some 30 to 40 times the size of the sun. This new powerful detection, so rare that we'll likely only observe ...

Previous research also indicated that Earth looks down the axis of this system, known as Wolf-Rayet 104, raising concerns ...

"The gamma-ray burst traveled through intergalactic space at the speed of light for eleven billion years, during which time the Sun and the planets were born." — Timothy Ferris, in the film ...

A dazzling star system once feared as a potential “Death Star” has turned out to be much less threatening than scientists ...

New research led by W. M. Keck Observatory Instrument Scientist and astronomer Grant Hill has confirmed what scientists have long suspected—WR 104 comprises two massive stars: a Wolf-Rayet star and an ...

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26 issue of the journal Nature. In the past four years, the team of astronomers working at the Smithsonian's Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in Arizona has observed high-energy gamma-ray bursts ...

A new study has shed light on the orbital alignment of the well-known Wolf-Rayet 104 (WR 104) system, long considered a potential threat due to its speculated gamma-ray burst (GRB) risk. Observations ...

Decades of W.M. Keck Observatory research on the famed Wolf-Rayet 104 “pinwheel star” system has taken a new turn, revealing more mystery but reducing concerns about its potential as the “Death Star.” ...