Exoplanet
In the almost 20 years since the discovery of the first exoplanet orbiting a main-sequence star, we have gone from thinking that planets are a cosmic curiosity to a common feature of the Universe. The race is on to find a true Earth twin, to measure an exoplanet atmosphere or, when the James Webb...
AstroNews
We all get the munchies, but when you’re a supermassive black hole (SMBH) your hunger might have dire consequences. And just like that an SMBH has outgrown its galaxy and jumped to the top of the heavyweight objects in the universe.
AstroNews
As I mentioned in a previous post, there are a few ways to measure the distance of a star in our galaxy. Unfortunately when the Luminosity is unknown and it is too far away to use parallaxes method, we are stumped for ways to estimate the distance.
AstroNews
Pluto, not to be confused with Micky Mouse’s dog, is going to be in the news a lot soon, as we are finally going to take a closer look to the elusive dwarf planet. Pluto Stats: Discovered by Clyde Tombaugh on the 18th of February 1930, it is smaller than our Moon with a 1184 […]
Luminosity
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.
Astronomy
The cosmos has plenty of terrifying Lovecraftian features, but one of my favourites is the Space Roar.
Astronomy
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
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
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
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
We were in Wales to catch this partial eclipse of the Sun
10 Features
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”.