Articles
Death of Stars
Buongiorno, C. “Neutron Stars: A Cosmic Gold Mine.” Astronomy (October 2021): 40. An introduction to neutron stars, pulsars, magnetars, and more.
Carlisle, C. “Stellar Autopsies: Supernova Remnants.” Sky & Telescope (May 2024): 12. On what we learn from the shells where supernovae exploded.
Cendes, Y. “Type Ia Supernovae: Inside the Universe’s Biggest Blasts.” Astronomy (December 2022): 12. How white dwarfs in binary systems come to explode.
Croswell, K. “The Little Stars that Can.” Sky & Telescope (April 2023): 36. On novae and how these explosions result in the production of new elements.
Francis, M. “The Short, Violent Lives of Magnetars.” Sky & Telescope (December 2021): 30. On neutron stars with strong magnetic fields.
Kirshner, R. “Supernova 1987A: The First Ten Years.” Sky & Telescope (February 1997): 35.
Maurer, S. “Taking the Pulse of Neutron Stars.” Sky & Telescope (August 2001): 32. Review of recent ideas and observations of pulsars.
Melott, A. “How Supernovae Have Affected Life.” Astronomy (April 2018): 44. On how energy and cosmic rays from supernova explosions affect nearby planets and life.
Schilling, G. “When Neutron Stars Collide.” Sky & Telescope (February 2018): 32. Theory and observations.
Shubinsky, R. “Gold from the Stars.” Astronomy (November 2020): 40. How gold has fascinated humanity, and how it is formed in neutron star collisions and supernovae.
Talcott, R. “A Tangled Web of Debris.” Astronomy (October 2023): 26. On the Webb Telescope observations of the Cas A supernova remnant.
Tyson, P. “The Allure of Betelgeuse.” Sky & Telescope (May 2019): 34. On the red supergiant star that will end its life as a supernova.
Gamma-Ray Bursts
Fox, D. & Racusin, J. “The Brightest Burst.” Sky & Telescope (January 2009): 34. Nice summary of the brightest burst observed so far, and what we have learned from it.
Nadis, S. “Do Cosmic Flashes Reveal Secrets of the Infant Universe?” Astronomy (June 2008): 34. On different types of gamma-ray bursts and what we can learn from them.
Naeye, R. “Dissecting the Bursts of Doom.” Sky & Telescope (August 2006): 30. Excellent review of gamma-ray bursts—how we discovered them, what they might be, and what they can be used for in probing the universe.
Zimmerman, R. “Speed Matters.” Astronomy (May 2000): 36. On the quick-alert networks for finding afterglows.
Zimmerman, R. “Witness to Cosmic Collisions.” Astronomy (July 2006): 44. On the Swift mission and what it is teaching astronomers about gamma-ray bursts.
Websites
Death of Stars
Crab Nebula: http://chandra.harvard.edu/xray_sources/crab/crab.html. A short, colorfully written introduction to the history and science involving the best-known supernova remnant.
Firm Evidence for a Neutron Star in Supernova 1987A (Sky & Telescope magazine website, May 2024): https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/gotcha-firm-evidence-for-a-neutron-star-in-supernova-1987a/.
Introduction to Neutron Stars: https://www.astro.umd.edu/~miller/nstar.html. Coleman Miller of the University of Maryland maintains this site, which goes from easy to hard as you get into it, but it has lots of good information about corpses of massive stars.
Introduction to Pulsars (by Maryam Hobbs at the Australia National Telescope Facility): http://www.atnf.csiro.au/outreach/education/everyone/pulsars/index.html.
Magnetars, Soft Gamma Repeaters, and Very Strong Magnetic Fields: http://solomon.as.utexas.edu/magnetar.html. Robert Duncan, one of the originators of the idea of magnetars, assembled this site some years ago.
Supernovas and Supernova Remnants: https://chandra.harvard.edu/xray_sources/supernovas.html. An introductory site from the Chandra X-ray Observatory staff.
Gamma-Ray Bursts
Gamma-Ray Bursts: Harvesting Knowledge from the Universe’s Most Powerful Explosions (from the NASA Universe web team): https://science.nasa.gov/universe/gamma-ray-bursts-harvesting-knowledge-from-the-universes-most-powerful-explosions/.
Missions to Detect and Learn More about Gamma-Ray Bursts:
- Fermi Space Telescope: https://www.nasa.gov/content/fermi/overview.
- INTEGRAL Spacecraft: http://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Integral_overview.
- SWIFT Spacecraft: https://swift.gsfc.nasa.gov/about_swift/.
- Beppo-SAX: https://www.ssdc.asi.it/bepposax/.
NASA Looks Back at 50 Years of Gamma-Ray-Burst Science: https://www.nasa.gov/universe/nasa-looks-back-at-50-years-of-gamma-ray-burst-science/
Videos
Death of Stars
A Tour of Supernova 1987A: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITvAdZzNFb0. A history of the supernova with Hubble and X-ray observations discussed (3:09).
BBC interview with Antony Hewish: http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/scientists/10608.shtml. (40:54).
Black Widow Pulsars: The Vengeful Corpses of Stars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn-3G_N0hy4. A public talk in the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series by Dr. Roger Romani (Stanford University) (1:01:47).
It all ends with a bang!: http://www.spacetelescope.org/videos/hubblecast64a/. HubbleCast Program introducing Supernovae with Dr. Joe Liske (9:48).
Millisecond Pulsars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m112a76tjKQ. Dr. Scott Ransom, of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, explains how millisecond pulsars come about, with some nice animation (1:33).
NASA’s NICER Reveals First-ever Pulsar Surface Map: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zukBXehGHas. About an X-ray telescope on the International Space Station that allowed astronomers to map the size and surface features of a pulsar (4:12).
Tour of the Crab Nebula: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ46S7sQ5hM. Combines visible-light and X-ray observations to permit a remarkable 3-D visualization of the supernova remnant (3:02).
Uncovering the Veil Nebula: https://esahubble.org/videos/heic0712a/. An introduction to supernovae and their remnants, with a focus on an older remnant in Cygnus (6:17).
What Are Pulsars?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHDc43N1wME. Dr. Michael Koop of Ohio University introduces and explains pulsars for the beginner (13:20).
Gamma-Ray Bursts
NASA’s Fermi and Swift Telescopes Capture Revolutionary Gamma-Ray Burst: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQLZPm34Chg. On observations of a 2021 burst that didn’t fit into the neat categories astronomers have set up (2:21).
What Caused the Brightest Explosions in the Universe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuNQHztGe5A. A review of gamma-ray bursts by science explainer Christian Ready and an especially bright burst in 2022 (14:56).