The cosmic pinwheel that astronomers feared could one day shower Earth with lethal gamma rays may not be as dangerous as once thought.

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

The SMITHSONIAN ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY is a part of the Smithsonian Institution which, in conjunction with the Harvard ...

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.” ...

A supernova is a cataclysmic stellar death that leaves behind a black ... Betelgeuse, about 650 light-years away from Earth, is one of the brightest stars in the night sky. Credit: Alan Dyer ...