Stars

Stars could be described as being volatile and aggressive, particularly early on in their life cycles. However, scientists have only just found one that could be referred to as ‘salty’ – in a literal and figurative sense.

Just over 400 years ago, two stars in our galaxy collided in space. This event was observed by astronomers on Earth, although they were not able to detect all the spectacular details and fallout of this event.

What happens to a star when it gets sucked into a black hole? No one knew for sure until Einstein said that he did! The physicist's Theory of Relativity could be used to encompass the physics of such an event. To be more specific, such an occurrence would involve a star passing through the gravitational field of a black hole.

Europa, a moon that orbits Jupiter, looks like an inert icy ball from the outside. However, many astronomers theorize that there is an Earth-like ocean underneath the crust. This crust could also be hiding energy sources. Therefore, conditions for life may indeed exist on Europa!

Some scientists are very interested in knowing what would happen if the sun goes dark for good. This is reasonable enough as nothing on our planet can live without this important star. For some time, astronomers were doubtful about what would happen to the sun at the end of its life. The death-throes observed in other stars were seen as unlikely to apply to it based on its size.

In 2008, in the Nubian Desert (Sudan), scientists discovered a meteorite with diamonds, surrounded by layers of graphite. This asteroid-turned-meteor that hit the Earth was 4 meters in diameter and came to be known as 2008 TC3. This body was considered as a compelling discovery because it revealed many secrets, dating back to the beginning of our solar system.

An international team of astrophysicists have reported the successful imaging of Icarus, a single star whose properties suggest that it is located approximately 9 billion light years away from Earth. This new finding indicates that Icarus is possibly the remotest body in the universe, that humans have detected till date.

The Hubble space telescope has identified many objects in our solar system, with one of its recent missions to help astronomers discover more about a mysterious object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. At first glance, this object appeared to be two asteroids orbiting each other, and was assigned as such. But further observations revealed that it also possessed characteristics in keeping with a comet.

In the constellation of Aquarius, lies a small star known as Trappist-1. Around this star, seven Earth-sized planets have been found, detailed in research released earlier this year. Now new research, released this week, suggests that a number of these planets may well contain water.

Scientists have just completed a study which has given a new information into both the atmosphere and surface of any star beyond our own solar system. The star in focus, quite literally, is a red supergiant known as Antares. This star is often also known as the ‘heart’ of the Scorpius constellation because as well as sitting in the middle of the constellation, Antares gives off a soft pink color, which can be seen with the naked eye.

Many areas of the universe where stars form are also known to contain complex organic molecules. These molecules contain six or more atoms, with at least one of these being a carbon atom. A group of these complex organic molecules are known as prebiotics, the structures of which are closely linked to molecules essential for life, including amino acids and sugars.

One of my favorite movies in the science genre is 1997’s Contact. The novel that it was based off was written by noted astrophysicist Carl Sagan and the movie had a good mix of fact and fantasy that actually seemed credible. Jodie Foster’s portrayal of Dr. Ellie Arroway, a scientist for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), was phenomenal.