Life Cycle Of The Sun

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29 years ago today, the greatest picture of all time was taken. by Eisenkugeln

★☆★ SPACE ★☆★

Strange star system may hold first evidence of an ultra-rare 'dark matter star'

In a distant star system, a sunlike star orbits an invisible object that may be the first example of a 'boson star' made of dark matter, new research suggests.

Astronomers long thought that a peculiar star system observed by the European Space Agency’s Gaia satellite was a simple case of a star orbiting a black hole.

But now, two astronomers are challenging that claim, finding that the evidence suggests something far stranger: Possibly, a never-before-seen type of star made of invisible dark matter. Their research, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, was published April 18 on the preprint server arXiv.

The system itself consists of a sunlike star and, well, something else. The star weighs a little less than the sun (0.93 solar mass) and has roughly the same chemical abundance as the sun. Its mysterious companion is much more massive — around 11 solar masses. The objects orbit each other at a distance of 1.4 astronomical units, about the distance at which Mars orbits the sun, making a complete orbit every 188 days.

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Double exposure of the moon (over exposure + normal exposure) by cosmicgrey

★☆★ SPACE ★☆★

Shitty, shitty potato quality iphone pictures, but caught this rocket launch tonight while I was driving home. This was a Firefly Alpha rocket launched out of Vandenberg.

What absolutely kills me is that I had my full camera rig in the car. I had driven out earlier in the evening, aiming to go set up at the Pinnacles to do some astrophotography tonight. Unfortunately, the hurricane floods trashed the trail to Pinnacles and so I had to turn back.

And I am in absolute mourning for what could have been. If I'd been able to get there, I would have had the perfect shot. A clear sky and the early stages of the Milky Way, with this rocket launch arching behind the incredible rock formations at Pinnacles.

It would have been killer. And instead I ended up with these crap phone photos shot out the window of my Jeep while driving back into town. Sigh.

Strange star system may hold first evidence of an ultra-rare 'dark matter star'

In a distant star system, a sunlike star orbits an invisible object that may be the first example of a 'boson star' made of dark matter, new research suggests.

Astronomers long thought that a peculiar star system observed by the European Space Agency’s Gaia satellite was a simple case of a star orbiting a black hole.

But now, two astronomers are challenging that claim, finding that the evidence suggests something far stranger: Possibly, a never-before-seen type of star made of invisible dark matter. Their research, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, was published April 18 on the preprint server arXiv.

The system itself consists of a sunlike star and, well, something else. The star weighs a little less than the sun (0.93 solar mass) and has roughly the same chemical abundance as the sun. Its mysterious companion is much more massive — around 11 solar masses. The objects orbit each other at a distance of 1.4 astronomical units, about the distance at which Mars orbits the sun, making a complete orbit every 188 days.

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Jupiter Double Shadow Transit - 8/16/18 by WardAgainstNewbs

★☆★ SPACE ★☆★

Happy 90th birthday to Buzz Aldrin.