NASA’s Solar Shield to Protect Power Grids From Sun Storms
NASA has devised a new tool in the battle against massive eruptions from the sun: an early warning system to protect electrical grids on Earth from extremely powerful solar storms. The new project, called Solar Shield, is designed to predict the severity of powerful sun storms at specific locations on Earth to help power companies plan responses and limit the potential damage to their equipment. It amounts to knowing something [...]
Read the rest
Darwinian Star Formation Weeds Out Wimps
When stars are born on the same cosmic block, the principle of survival of the fittest rules like nowhere else in the universe, a new study suggests. Star formation may be more rambunctious than thought when it occurs in bursts, generating crowded stellar neighborhoods. Stars sometimes form so closely together [...]
Read the rest
Star Explodes Inside Atmosphere of Another
A nova that lights up in the sky every 20 years is the result of a small star exploding repeatedly inside the outer atmosphere of a larger star, astronomers said today. The eruptions are among the most unusual stellar death cries ever spotted. The setup is called RS Ophiuchi, or [...]
Read the rest
Astronomers Had it Wrong: Most Stars are Single
For more than 200 years, astronomers thought that most of the stars in our galaxy had stellar companions. But a new study suggests the bulk of them are born alone and never have stellar company. Since planets are believed to be easier to form around single stars, the discovery could [...]
Read the rest
Human life on Mars?
It’s been over 30 years since the last human beings ventured out of the relative safety of earth orbit and stood on another world. On December 11, 1972 two out of the three member crew of Apollo 17 landed on the moon. While Ronald Evans remained in lunar orbit, watching [...]
Read the rest