Stars explode once every second in the universe, often becoming brighter than their home galaxies. Though most remain undiscovered by astronomers, recently enhanced capabilities to scan the skies now detect more than 10 per day. This has revealed new kinds of explosions, some much brighter than we expect, and some much fainter. Visiting Tinsley professor Lars Bildsten of the University of California-Santa Barbara discusses exciting new discoveries about exploding stars and their novel theoretical interpretations.