Stars and Galaxies

6 articles

Stellar life cycles, black holes, nebulae and the large-scale structure of the universe.

Proxima Centauri: The First Stop Beyond the Solar System

Alpha Centauri is the closest star system to the Solar System, located approximately 4.37 light-years away. It is a triple star system comprising Alpha Centauri A, Alpha Centauri B, and Alpha Centauri C (Proxima Centauri). Proxima Centauri, a small red dwarf in the outermost orbit, is the closest individual star to Earth, situated about 4.25 light-years away.

2 min read2

Stars and Galaxies

White holes and wormholes: two solutions nobody has seen

They come out of the same equations as black holes, yet black holes have been photographed while these two have never been observed. Why they almost certainly do not exist in the visible universe.

3 min read3

Stars and Galaxies

Galaxies: what they are and how they are classified

The band of light across the night sky is our own galaxy's disk, seen from inside it. Beyond it lie hundreds of billions more, and their shapes record their collision histories.

2 min read1

Stars and Galaxies

Stars: structure and life cycle

A ball of gas becomes a star only when heavy enough to ignite fusion — about 80 Jupiter masses. Initial mass then decides nearly everything else, including how it dies.

3 min read2

Stars and Galaxies

The 20 brightest stars in the night sky

Ranked by apparent magnitude — brightness as seen from Earth, not true luminosity. Sirius leads because it is close; Deneb makes the list from hundreds of times farther away.

3 min read2

Stars and Galaxies

Black holes: where the geometry of space collapses

Not cosmic vacuum cleaners but regions where spacetime curves so sharply no path leads out. From theory to the first image in 2019.

3 min read6