A Dying Star’s Portrait, Celestial Drama, and Cosmic Mysteries

These past few weeks have felt like a cosmic masterclass in the unexpected and the extraordinary. One of the month’s most jaw-dropping achievements came on November 21, when astronomers used the Very Large Telescope Interferometer to capture an astonishingly detailed portrait of WOH G64, a red supergiant 160,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud. This star, nearly 2,000 times the diameter of our Sun, is nearing the end of its life, shrouded in a cocoon of gas and dust as it prepares for its final, explosive act — a supernova!

Seeing such an intimate snapshot of a star’s last moments, so far from home, feels like peering into the universe’s deepest secrets. It’s a reminder that even in its endings, the cosmos tells stories of creation and transformation.

Closer to home, the skies over Ireland put on a show of their own. On November 7, a brilliant fireball blazed across the heavens, visible from Dublin to Derry. For a few fleeting moments, the night seemed to hold its breath as this dazzling streak of light lit up the sky. Fireballs like these, created when space debris burns up in Earth’s atmosphere, are a thrilling reminder that the universe isn’t some distant thing — it’s all around us, interacting with our world in dramatic and beautiful ways.

But this past month wasn’t just about spectacular sights; it was also a time to challenge what we think we know. On November 18, researchers announced the possible discovery of a dwarf galaxy completely devoid of dark matter, hidden in the tentacle of a jellyfish galaxy.

This discovery could upend our understanding of galaxy formation and dark matter, raising more questions than it answers. Meanwhile, on November 29, astrophysicists studying pulsars used the LOFAR telescope to decode the behavior of the solar wind, providing a new lens through which to understand the Sun’s impact on Earth. It’s astonishing how something as distant as a pulsar can offer insights into the forces shaping life on our planet.

From the quiet elegance of a dying star to the fiery drama of a fireball and the mysteries of dark matter, it’s clear there’s so much left to learn — and so much wonder waiting to be uncovered!