#artists concept

[spacetelescopescience]

The red supergiant star at the shoulder of the constellation Orion holds a surprise. Astronomers have found new evidence that Betelgeuse is orbited by a small companion star, so close that the companion circulates within the extended outer atmosphere of the supergiant, as shown in this artist’s concept.

The Hubble Space Telescope has provided evidence of a dense “wake” of gas churned up by the orbital motion of the companion. This may explain why Betelgeuse varies in brightness every 2,100 days: https://news.stsci.edu/4sunaQH

[spacetelescopescience]

Magnetar SGR 0501+4516 is traversing our galaxy from an unknown place of origin, researchers using the Hubble Space Telescope have found. This runaway object is the likeliest candidate in our galaxy for a magnetar that was not formed from a supernova explosion.

A magnetar is a neutron star with a magnetic field that is about a trillion times more powerful than Earth. If a magnetar sat at only half the Moon’s distance from us, its intense field would erase the magnetic strip on every credit card on Earth: https://bit.ly/3FKcNEr

[back-to-the-stars-again]

Artists Concept of Extrasolar Planet GJ 436b.

Credit: NASA, ESA, G Bacon

[electronicsquid]

Fallout shelter presentation

(Walter Sanders. 1960)

[back-to-the-stars-again]

Artists concept of Earth like planets in a future universe.

Credit: NASA, ESA, G Bacon

[space-pictures]

This artist's conception shows a young, hypothetical planet around a cool star. A soupy mix of potentially life-forming chemicals can be seen pooling around the base of the jagged rocks

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle (SSC)