... t phase, in which the star can be hundreds of times its original size. When this happens, planets that are too close will be engulfed by the star and completely merged with it. The astronomers in question have detected emissions from a red giant star ...

A surface mass ejection (SME), depicted in this illustration, is a relatively recently discovered phenomenon in stellar astrophysics. They are similar to coronal mass ejections but on a far larger scale. During an SME, a star can release hundreds of ...

This once normal star, having exhausted its internal supply of hydrogen, has expanded, growing into a gargantuan caricature of its former self called a red giant. It is dozens or hundreds of times its original size. Any nearby planets will be engulfe...