stars
Science

The World’s Most Powerful Laser Will Create Tiny Stars On Earth

While CERN researchers are busy potentially obliterating the Earth by creating a black hole in France, scientists at the Lawrence Livermore Lab have their own Doomsday machine: a 10-story laser that may well create a miniature star over Northern California.

June 24, 2011
Cameras

I Had Forgotten How Beautiful The Night Sky Is

For the first time in my life, I want to live in Wyoming. This photograph, taken by Robert Arn over the course a single night, captured the glittering and glowing night sky in 360 degrees. Why can’t the sky always look like this?

June 19, 2011
Science

Ultra-Bright Burst Of Light Marks The Death Throes Of A Star Being Eaten Alive

Astronomers have solved the mystery of a gargantuan cosmic explosion first spotted in March: A black hole did it, by killing and eating a star the size of our sun.

June 11, 2011
Science

Vampire Stars Stay Young By Feeding Off Their Neighbours

A cannibalistic star sounds like something fit for a sci-fi flick, but it’s a real thing. And it’s called a “blue straggler”.

May 21, 2011
Science

Bright Lights Of Border Control Scare Astronomers’ Stars Away

There’s a reason you can’t see stars in the city – lights. Lights everywhere! They drown the sky’s bounty out, and apparently it’s even affecting Arizona astronomers, who are unfortunately situated right by the border… and the border patrol’s spotlights.

May 17, 2011
Science

This Bread Loaf-Sized Satellite Might Find The Next Earth

Looking for Earth-like planets way out in the cosmos is usually the task of huge – and hugely expensive – satellites. But a new “nanosatellite”, only 30cm long, is taking on the job, at a fraction of the price.

April 3, 2011
Gadgets

Ancient Antikythera Mechanism Continues To Amaze With Recent Discovery

The Antikythera mechanism, one of the world’s oldest known gadgets, has coughed up another secret. In addition to tracking time and upcoming Olympic games, the mechanism was apparently great at tracking the motion of the Sun across the sky.

March 25, 2011
Science

This Star Is So Cold That You Can Actually Lick It

Seventy five light-years away there’s a star called CFBDSIR 1458 10b. I would call it Star Latte. See, Star Latte here is a brown dwarf star so cold that you can actually lick it.

March 4, 2011
Cameras

This Is Not A Van Gogh Painting

Instead, photographer Anton Jankovoy spent months camping out at the foot of Mount Everest, waiting for the right moment to capture the “star trails”. The photograph itself takes hours to capture, as the stars move slowly through the sky. [Daily Mail]

February 22, 2011
Science

Life On Other Planets: No Star, No Problem!

Scientists now think it’s not only possible for life to exist on a planet which isn’t in orbit around a star, but that these vagabond planets might be key for spreading life throughout the universe.

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