Stars

Ask Ethan: How sure are we that the Universe is 13.8 billion years old? (Synopsis)

“Normal science, the activity in which most scientists inevitably spend almost all their time, is predicated on the assumption that the scientific community knows what the world is like.” -Thomas S. Kuhn For all of human history, the biggest questions have fascinated us. Where did the Universe come from? How old is it? And what … Read moreAsk Ethan: How sure are we that the Universe is 13.8 billion years old? (Synopsis)

Seeing One Example Of Merging Neutron Stars Raises Five Incredible Questions (Synopsis)

“O. Hahn and F. Strassmann have discovered a new type of nuclear reaction, the splitting into two smaller nuclei of the nuclei of uranium and thorium under neutron bombardment. Thus they demonstrated the production of nuclei of barium, lanthanum, strontium, yttrium, and, more recently, of xenon and caesium. It can be shown by simple considerations … Read moreSeeing One Example Of Merging Neutron Stars Raises Five Incredible Questions (Synopsis)

New Space Telescope, 40 Times The Power Of Hubble, To Unlock Astronomy’s Future (Synopsis)

“Hubble often takes images of distant gravitationally lensed galaxies to infer their substructure and to try to learn about early galaxies in general. For LUVOIR, we would have that same resolution for any galaxy! That’s truly revolutionary.” -John O’Meara If you were an observational astronomer, what would your dream telescope look like? It would have … Read moreNew Space Telescope, 40 Times The Power Of Hubble, To Unlock Astronomy’s Future (Synopsis)

5 Things The World Needs From Star Trek: Discovery (Synopsis)

“We are what we are, and we’re doing the best we can. It is not for you to set the standards by which we should be judged!” -Capt. Picard, to Q When you think about Star Trek, a whole variety of things might come to mind. It might conjure images of space exploration, feelings of … Read more5 Things The World Needs From Star Trek: Discovery (Synopsis)

Proof of ‘God playing dice with the Universe’ found in the Sun’s interior (Synopsis)

“The bedrock nature of space and time and the unification of cosmos and quantum are surely among science’s great ‘open frontiers.’ These are parts of the intellectual map where we’re still groping for the truth – where, in the fashion of ancient cartographers, we must still inscribe ‘here be dragons.’” –Martin Rees Inside the nuclear … Read moreProof of ‘God playing dice with the Universe’ found in the Sun’s interior (Synopsis)

The Greatest Cosmic Puzzle: Astronomers Find Stars That Appear Older Than The Universe (Synopsis)

“The older you get, the more you realize that the way you look is a reflection of how you treat yourself.” -Hope Davis Age may be just a number, but in cosmic terms, there are some rules it’s pretty important to obey. It should be impossible to have a complex creature that’s older than the … Read moreThe Greatest Cosmic Puzzle: Astronomers Find Stars That Appear Older Than The Universe (Synopsis)

The Sun’s Energy Doesn’t Come From Fusing Hydrogen Into Helium (Mostly) [Synopsis]

“The sun is a miasma Of incandescent plasma The sun’s not simply made out of gas No, no, no The sun is a quagmire It’s not made of fire Forget what you’ve been told in the past” -They Might Be Giants Ask anyone where the Sun (or any star) gets its energy from, and most … Read moreThe Sun’s Energy Doesn’t Come From Fusing Hydrogen Into Helium (Mostly) [Synopsis]

Ask Ethan: Can Normal Stars Make Elements Heavier (And Less Stable) Than Iron? (Synopsis)

“Comrades, this man has a nice smile, but he’s got iron teeth.” -Andrei A. Gromyko When you have a star, perhaps its most defining characteristic is that it fuses lighter elements into heavier ones, releasing energy. While all stars fuse hydrogen into helium, the more massive ones will undergo helium fusion, with the most massive … Read moreAsk Ethan: Can Normal Stars Make Elements Heavier (And Less Stable) Than Iron? (Synopsis)

The ‘Eye Of Creation’ Holds The Secrets To Cosmic Life And Death (Synopsis)

“The origin and evolution of life are connected in the most intimate way with the origin and evolution of the stars.” -Carl Sagan When it comes to dying stars, supernovae get all the press. They may be the largest and most massive stars to die, but hundreds of times more common are the planetary nebulae … Read moreThe ‘Eye Of Creation’ Holds The Secrets To Cosmic Life And Death (Synopsis)

The Hottest Stars In The Universe Are All Missing One Key Ingredient (Synopsis)

“A candidate is not going to suddenly change once they get into office. Just the opposite, in fact. Because the minute that individual takes that oath, they are under the hottest, harshest light there is. And there is no way to hide who they really are.” -Michelle Obama The most massive stars in the Universe … Read moreThe Hottest Stars In The Universe Are All Missing One Key Ingredient (Synopsis)