Luminosity
How do we know how massive stars are?
As we discussed in the previous vlog our understanding of stars is still incomplete, but there are areas which we are very confident on what we know.
Latest
Astronomy
I’m the Universe, hear me roar.
The cosmos has plenty of terrifying Lovecraftian features, but one of my favourites is the Space Roar.
Astronomy
Some facts on Betelgeuse going supernova
Every few months, I see articles about Betelgeuse, the right shoulder in the constellation of Orion, ready to go supernova. The articles vary from the sensational to the apocalyptic and I can understand why it is a fascinating subject. A supernova in our galactic backyard.
AstroNews
The taming of the screw
I have a mathematician friend who believes that anything that it is mathematically possible exists somewhere in the multiverse. She believes that there are some features that are so beautiful, that it would be a crime if they were simply quirks of the Universal language.
Exoplanet
Shopping for rings
I have a space question. I know about the Roche limit but is there an upper limit to how big a ring can get compared to its planet?
Curiosity
Destroying the One Ring in Space
I was asked by Larry, one of my students, about what would be the best place in the solar system to destroy the One Ring. Since the 25th of March is the anniversary of its destruction and the fall of Sauron I thought I’d dedicate this vlog to answering the question as seriously and as accurately ...
AstroNews
Eclipse 2015
We were in Wales to catch this partial eclipse of the Sun
10 Features
The Universe in 10 Features: 10. Life
The final feature for this series is Life. The Universe is such mind-boggling huge place that we are most definitely the best that random chances and selfish genes can produce. NASA defines life as a: “Self-sustaining chemical system capable of Darwinian evolution”.
10 Features
The Universe in 10 Features: 9. Protoplanetary disks
Dust to dust, ashes to ashes. In the previous vlog we saw how the cyclical formation and destruction of stars leads to a metal rich Intergalactic Medium, and that the presence of metals in the Intergalactic Medium is paramount to the formation of planets.
10 Features
The Universe in 10 Features: 8. Population I Stars
One of the fundamental laws of the universe is the conservation of Energy. Nothing is created, nothing is destroyed, and all is transformed. And so the death of the original stars brought forth new stars which then died again, adding heavier elements than hydrogen to the composition of the univer...
10 Features
The Universe in 10 Features: 7. Elliptical Galaxies
Our 7th feature is about elliptical galaxies. Elliptical galaxies are the other main class of galaxies we find in our universe. They have a spherical stellar distribution, meaning simply that their stars’ orbits are not in a plane any more, and instead have random orientations.
Big Bang
The Big Bang is not going anywhere.
On the 4th of February a paper was published detailing a Universe that didn’t need a Big Bang. While it is very interesting (you can read it here) I find myself once again at odds with how theoretical papers are formulated.