Lifeboat Foundation

With the addition of ultraviolet light imagery, astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have captured the largest panoramic view of the fire and fury of star birth in the distant universe. Take a look: https://go.nasa.gov/2EmeKVU

And it could eventually make its way into space.

The death of a binary star can be a spectacularly violent thing.

This picture shows the binary system R Aquarii, a red giant throwing off its outer envelope, which is being greedily cannibalised by its companion, a much smaller, denser white dwarf.

The dramatic moment you’re looking at unfolded just 650 light-years from Earth – practically right next door in astronomical terms, which is why astronomers have a keen interest in the event.

Continue reading “This Breathtaking Image Is a Real Photo of Two Stars Destroying Each Other” »

When we die, our energy is redistributed throughout the universe according to the law of conservation of energy. While this should not be confused with our consciousness living forever, our energy continuing after we’re gone could make death a less scary prospect.

Comet 46P/Wirtanen will make its closest flyby on Sunday, Dec. 16, passing 7.1 million miles from Earth. It may even be bright enough to see without a telescope. Photo galleries & how to observe: https://go.nasa.gov/2EAoGvM

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx probe, which just arrived at the asteroid Bennu last week, has already found lots of hydrated minerals on the space rock, mission team members announced today (Dec. 10).

An initiative called Breakthrough Starshot wants to explore another star system using ultra-powerful laser beams and wafer-thin spaceships.

It’s a goal that sounds so fantastic, you’d be forgiven for dismissing it as science fiction. But it’s no joke, and the project’s chief engineer says millions of dollars’ worth of work is moving along without any major snags.

Starshot’s founders and collaborators include the late Stephen Hawking, Harvard University astronomer Avi Loeb, and Russian-American billionaire Yuri Milner. The concept is based on more than 80 scientific studies about interstellar travel.

Continue reading “Scientists Are Creating a Laser So Powerful It Could Get a Probe to Mars in Days” »

Space agencies are working hard to get humans back to the surface of the Moon. But it’s not exactly the most inviting place.

Astronauts during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969 may not have had any health incidents while they were gleefully bouncing around on the lunar surface, as a NASA mission report from the time points out. But they knew that lunar dust wasn’t their friend — it could irritate their lungs, cause their Moon buggies to overheat — it even started degrading their spacesuits.

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope spotted a rare, medium-size “hot Neptune” planet in a solar system far beyond our own. Why are there so few exoplanets of this size? Some clues: the planet orbits very close to a young star, and its atmosphere is evaporating rapidly from the blistering radiation. https://go.nasa.gov/2rBCwW4