The new technique depends on disturbances in the material being fed from one star to another as a third body orbits a binary pair. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate ...

Scientists have discovered a pair of stars locked in an incredibly close orbit that circle each other once every 51 minutes - and according to the results of a new study, they are only going to speed ...

Cataclysmic variables (CVs) are close binary systems in which a white dwarf accretes material from a companion star, typically a low‐mass, main-sequence star. The accretion process, often mediated by ...

Jackson Ryan was CNET's science editor, and a multiple award-winning one at that. Earlier, he'd been a scientist, but he realized he wasn't very happy sitting at a lab bench all day. Science writing, ...

LOS ANGELES - Some might complain over a lack of excitement in our solar system but a recent discovery by MIT astronomers reminds us why we should be grateful for a "boring" location among the stars.

Nearly half the stars in our galaxy are solitary like the sun. The other half comprises stars that circle other stars, in pairs and multiples, with orbits so tight that some stellar systems could fit ...

In yet another discovery, astronomers at MIT and elsewhere have found a pair of stars that has the shortest orbital period yet discovered. The star circles each other every 51 minutes. Astronomers dub ...

Dwarf novae are a prominent subclass of cataclysmic variables; binary star systems in which a white dwarf accretes matter from a donor star. This accretion process drives episodic outbursts due to ...

Feeding frenzy: artist’s illustration of a cataclysmic variable with a white dwarf (right) feeding upon a Sun-like donor star. (Courtesy: M Weiss/Center for Astrophysics/Harvard & Smithsonian) ...

Stephen has degrees in science (Physics major) and arts (English Literature and the History and Philosophy of Science), as well as a Graduate Diploma in Science Communication. Stephen has degrees in ...