The astronomy world has been abuzz for several years regarding the discovery of so many mini-Neptunes – planets that seems to be similar in characteristics to Neptune, but smaller. A Mini-Neptune, also called an ice dwarf or transitional planet, is a planet less massive than Neptune but resembling Neptune in that it has a thick… Read More »
This article was originally published by the Australian National University and all rights are reserved by them. Supergiant star Betelgeuse smaller, closer than first thought Friday, October 16, 2020 — It may be another 100,000 years until the giant red star Betelgeuse dies in a fiery explosion, according to a new study by an international team of researchers. The study, led by Dr Meridith Joyce from The… Read More »
There is a lot of debate about colonising Mars, in fact the conversations have been had for more than 100 years, but realistic plans to at least land humans on Mars are around 50 years old. In 1976 the debate grew when NASA successfully landed the Viking 1 and 2 landers on the Red Planet,… Read More »
Researchers have concluded that the molten rock and cooled volcanic glass present on the surface of Lava-Ocean Planets is unlikely to be the cause of their brightness, some of which have an albedo higher than Earth. This is intriguing, these lava-Ocean worlds are similar in size to Earth but whizz around their host star so… Read More »
For as long as humans have gazed upward to the sky, there are many who gazed is awe at the site of the Moon in our sky. For many thousands of years the Moon has been both a source of inspiration and terror in all cultures around the world, with various appearances being classed as… Read More »
How the elements are made The manufacture of all the elements of the periodic table is the result of nucleosynthesis within stars, successively heavier elements are created by combining the atoms that form the nuclei of lighter elements. The most abundant element in the observable Universe is Hydrogen, which occurs in three “flavours” or isotopes, the… Read More »
Humans have pondered these questions about the Universe, to one degree or another, for at least several hundred years, perhaps thousands of years, yet despite the advances in society, science and our overall understanding of the Universe, we are still no closer to answering these questions, or are we closer than we think? To answer… Read More »
Black holes are some of the most enigmatic but fascinating objects in the Universe. They appear to be the final chapter in the life of massive stars, packing material in so densely that the gravitational field is so strong that electromagnetic radiation (light to you and me) cannot escape. The point at which this happens… Read More »
The story of Betelgeuse has kicked things off, so it seems appropriate to discuss Supernova. I am sure if I asked the question; “What is a Supernova“ Most would answer the obvious, “An old star exploding at the end of it’s life“ Whilst true, it is also not accurate either. There was a time when… Read More »
ETA Carina. (10h 45m 03.591s / −59° 41′ 04.26″) It is believed that before Western Sailors ventured south enough to see Eta Carina, once called Eta Argus, that is was the brightest star in the sky as seen from Earth, perhaps as bright as magnitude -4.3, however, since it was discovered by Western astronomers and… Read More »
There has been quite a bit of discussion of late regarding the dimming of the star α Orionis (Alpha Orionis) or commonly known as Betelgeuse. Betelgeuse is a semi-regular variable Supergiant Star that is located to the upper right of the attached Hertzsprung-Russel diagram. It is classified as spectral class M1-M 2-1a to ab. The classification depends… Read More »
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