“Stars like the Sun don’t just stop shining,” but this one did

Astronomers have identified powerful winds of vaporized metals inside a vast cloud that blocked the light of a distant star for almost nine months. The finding was made using the Gemini South telescope in Chile, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, which is partly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and operated by NSF NOIRLab. The observation offers a rare look at energetic and chaotic activity that can continue shaping planetary systems long after they for...