A supernova is a star’s colossal explosion at the end of its life, potentially outshining its entire galaxy. Read about the causes and types of supernovae here. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/definition-what-is-a-supernova…
Tag: luminosity
Scientists Find a New Way To Search for Habitable Exoplanets
An anonymous reader shares a report: Earthlings are lucky to live near a relatively stable Sun, which has enabled life on our planet to emerge and thrive over the past four billion years. While many worlds in our galaxy might contain the right ingredients to support life, though, a lot of them could be stuck with a more volatile star that…
Electric! Astronomers find sprites in Jupiter’s atmosphere
Scientists with NASA’s Juno mission say they have detected sprites or elves – electrical phenomena above thunderstorms on Earth – in the clouds of Jupiter for the first time. Unlike the red-colored earthly ones however, the Jovian ones are blue. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/sprites-or-elves-in-jupiters-atmosphere-lightning-juno…
‘Echo mapping’ in faraway galaxies could measure vast cosmic distances
When you look up at the night sky, how do you know whether the specks of light that you see are bright and far away, or relatively faint and close by? One way to find out is to compare how much light the object actually emits with how bright it appears. The difference between its true luminosity and its apparent brightness…
Astronomers find the first galaxy whose ultraviolet luminosity is comparable to that of a quasar
Using observations made with the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (Garafía, La Palma, Canary Islands), and with the ATACAMA Large Millimeter/submillimetre Array (ALMA), in Chile, astronomers have found the first galaxy whose ultraviolet luminosity is comparable to that of a quasar. The discovery was recently published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical…
CERN’s Powerful New Linear Accelerator Fires Up Ahead of LHC Upgrade
An anonymous reader quotes a report from NewAtlas: After an almost two-year shutdown for repairs and upgrades, CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is beginning to fire back up for its next phase of probing the mysteries of physics. Its newest particle accelerator, Linac 4, completed its first test run over the past few weeks, with the potential to provide much more…
Moon and Scorpius on August 25 and 26
The moon sweeps close to red supergiant star Antares on August 25, 2020. The next night, August 26, the moon is closer to the graceful curved tail of Scorpius the Scorpion, the constellation in which Antares is the brightest star. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/moon-and-star-antares-on-august-25…
Earth’s night sky as Milky Way and Andromeda merge
Billions of years from now, Earth’s night sky will change as the Andromeda galaxy rushes toward a merger with the Milky Way. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/earths-night-sky-milky-way-andromeda-merge…