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Northwestern Now Examination of Theia 456 finds its nearly 500 stars were born at same time An artistic rendering of generic stellar streams in the Milky Way. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt, SSC & Caltech The Milky Way houses 8,292 recently discovered stellar streams — all named Theia. But Theia 456 is special. A stellar stream is a rare linear pattern — rather than a cluster — of stars. After combining multiple datasets captured by the Gaia space telescope, a team of astrophysicists found that all of Theia 456’s 468 stars were born at the same time and are traveling in the same dir...

Examination of Theia 456 finds its nearly 500 stars were born at same time The Milky Way houses 8,292 recently discovered stellar streams — all named

Date Time Upside of volatile space weather Although violent and unpredictable, stellar flares emitted by a planet’s host star do not necessarily prevent life from forming, according to a new Northwestern University study. Emitted by stars, stellar flares are sudden flashes of magnetic energy. On Earth, the sun’s flares sometimes damage satellites and disrupt radio communications. Elsewhere in the universe, however, robust stellar flares also have the ability to deplete and destroy atmospheric gases, such as ozone. The destruction of gases like ozone could allow harmful levels of ultraviol...

When something inordinately rare or unexpected happens, it is said “the planets aligned.” On Dec. 21, the winter solstice, two planets will appear nearly aligned, resulting in an event so uncommon it’s befitting of the saying. At one time, astronomers may have felt it so closely resembled a Christmas miracle — or, perhaps, the star of Bethlehem — that they named the spectacle the “Christmas Star.” The event is called a conjunction, said Shane Larson, associate director of Northwestern’s Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysi...