The strongest burst of star formation occurred two billion years after the Big Bang according to new research led by a Cambridge academic.

Stars in galaxies are a bit similar to people: during the first phase of their existence they grow rapidly, after which a stellar birth control occurs in most galaxies.

Astronomers have found evidence that stars have been forming in a long tail of gas that extends well outside its parent galaxy. This discovery suggests that such "orphan" stars may be much more prevalent than previously thought.

A groundbreaking study has provided new insight into the way the first stars were formed at the start of the Universe, some 13 billion years ago.

XMM-Newton has surveyed nearly two hundred stars under formation to reveal, contrary to expectations, how streams of matter fall onto the young stars' magnetic atmospheres and radiate X-rays.