Besides being a point of light, a star is a luminous, spherical mass of plasma, enough to hold itself together under its own gravity. On its own, though, gravitational rounding isn't enough. What ...

A surprising new study reveals that the first stars appeared in a pre-heated universe, challenging earlier ideas about early cosmic conditions.

A discovery of binary stars could be the first step in building a more complete picture of how our galaxy formed, according ...

Stars form in the universe from massive clouds of gas. European Southern Observatory, CC BY-SA For decades, astronomers have wondered what the very first stars in the universe were like. These stars ...

At just 25, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin applied quantum physics to a treasure trove of astronomical observations to show that stars are mostly hydrogen and helium.

The early universe was already warm before reionization, revealing that the first stars did not flicker on in an icy cosmos.