Stellary Starry Universe

 

A massive star a million times brighter than our sun exploded way too early in its life, suggesting scientists don’t understand stellar evolution as well as they thought.

“This might mean that we are fundamentally wrong about the evolution of massive stars, and that theories need revising,” said Avishay Gal-Yam of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. [...]

Source: Space.com – click here for full article

 

 

Multi-robot planetary exploration would be a complex affair, with humans working with a diverse team of mobile robots operating in a variety of control modes.

“Aurora sees this as an opportunity to expand its multi-vehicle coordination capabilities into the realm of planetary exploration. We view this project as a natural integration of our expertise in space systems and in tools for planning and coordinating autonomous teams,” said Dr. James Paduano, Autonomy Controls and Estimation Group Lead. [...]

Source: Space.com – click here for full article

 

 

Mysterious gaps in the asteroid belt may have been caused by a shift in the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn four billion years ago, researchers say.

A computer simulation of the gravitational influence of these migrating planets matches previously unexplained gaps in the belt, according to a report published in the British journal Nature today.

“The pattern in the missing asteroids confirms other lines of evidence that the giant planets went through a brief episode of migration some time in the Solar System’s early history,” said David Minton study co-author and astronomer at the University of Arizona in Tucson, USA.

Source: Cosmos Online – click here for full article

 

 

The space station unfurled its last pair of solar wings Friday after 10 years of construction. A few comments when the job was completed; “Tremendous news! Great work guys,” Mission Control called back. “You’ve got a whole bunch of happy people down here as well.”

“We’re very happy as well,” Archambault said. “Full power!”

Each of the new 115-foot (35-meter) wings unfolded gracefully, with none of the glitches which have plagued previous array deployments. The astronauts unfolded the new arrays in stages. That allowed them to warm in the sun to reduce the stickiness.

“It was absolutely beautiful,” station commander Michael Fincke said in a televised interview, adding that there was a “shout of triumph” as the wings unfurled.

Source: Space.com – click here for full article

 

 

Before and after images reveal that red supergiant stars are responsible for Type II supernovas.

Type II supernovas are the impressive cosmic explosions that result from the internal collapse of a massive star. (For this reason, they are also known as core-collapse supernovas.)

On average, a supernova will occur about once every 50 years in a galaxy the size of the Milky Way. But scientists don’t know when these stellar powder kegs will blow, so identifying the star that birthed them, called the progenitor star, can be tricky.

Source: Space.com – Click here for full story