A new astronomical spectrograph provides the highest-precision measurements to date of infrared signals from nearby stars, researchers report. The spectrograph allows astronomers to detect planets capable of having liquid water on their surfaces that orbit cool stars outside our solar system, according to a new paper in the journal Optica.
A nova star is like a vampire that siphons gas from its binary partner. As it does so, the gas is compressed and heated, and eventually it explodes. The remnant gas shell from that explosion expands outward and is lit up by the stars at the center of it all. Most of these novae explode about once every 10 years.But now astrophysicists have discovered one remnant so large that the star that created it must have been erupting yearly for millions of years.The team of astrophysicist published their findings in a letter in the journal Nature.
— Read on curiosity.com/topics/this-star-has-gone-nova-every-year-for-millions-of-years-curiosity
For some small minority of humans, “death by asteroid” is a desirable fate. The idea probably satisfies their wonky doomsday thinking. But for the rest of us, going out the same way the dinosaurs did would just be embarrassing. Thankfully, the ESA’s Hera mission will visit the smallest space rock ever, and will help us avoid going the way of the dinosaurs.For added kicks, it will forestall the happiness of any over-eager doomsday cultists, and the rest of us can revel in their existential anguish.
— Read on curiosity.com/topics/the-esa-is-launching-a-mission-to-the-moon-of-an-asteroid-curiosity
Let’s face it: Black holes are terrifying. A point in space with so much gravity that not even light can escape? Human beings don’t stand a chance. But before you go worrying over what it might feel like to be sucked into the gaping maw of a black hole, we’ve got news for you: Black holes are so lethal that you could die in a handful of ways before you even reach the event horizon. Below, we’ve laid out four options for death by black hole, courtesy of theoretical astrophysicist Katie Mack. Sweet dreams!
— Read on curiosity.com/topics/there-are-at-least-4-ways-a-black-hole-could-kill-you-curiosity
The hunt for other planets in our galaxy has heated up in the past few decades, with 3,869 planets being detected in 2,886 systems and another 2,898 candidates awaiting confirmation. Though the discovery of these planets has taught scientists much about the kinds of planets that exist in our galaxy, there is still much we do not know about the process of planetary formation.
Roughly 4.2 billion years ago, Mars was a much different place than it is today. It’s atmosphere was thicker and warmer and its surface much wetter. Unfortunately, the planet’s atmosphere was stripped away by solar wind over the next 500 million years, causing the surface to become so cold and dry that it makes Antarctica look balmy by comparison!As a result, most of Mars’ water is currently locked away in its polar ice caps. But billions of years ago, water still flowed freely across the surface, forming ancient rivers and lakes. In fact, new research led by The University of Texas at Austin indicates that sometimes these lakes would fill so fast that they would overflow, causing massive floods that had a drastic impact on the surface.
— Read on curiosity.com/topics/billions-of-years-ago-martian-lakes-were-constantly-flooding-curiosity
We need to talk about the dark ages. No, not those dark ages after the fall of the western Roman Empire. The cosmological dark ages. The time in our universe, billions of years ago, before the formation of the first stars. And we need to talk about the cosmic dawn: the birth of those first stars, a tumultuous epoch that completely reshaped the face the cosmos into its modern form.Those first stars may have been completely unlike anything we see in the present universe. And we may, if we’re lucky, be on the cusp of seeing them for the first time.
Have you ever wondered why every planet we know about is shaped like a sphere? Why not a cube, or an hourglass? While those — and let’s be honest, most other shapes — would definitely break the laws of physics, there’s one odd planet form that wouldn’t: a donut.
— Read on curiosity.com/topics/yes-a-donut-shaped-planet-is-technically-possible-curiosity
Interesting
Imagine the weird environment on a comet. In the light gravity, it’s easy to hop and skip. The view is stunning; bright stars surround you, with no atmosphere to make them twinkle. And the best thing? If the comet is close enough to the sun, you’ll experience a space blizzard. An amazing animation on Twitter shows the view from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Rosetta spacecraft. It visited a comet between 2014 and 2016. So much dust fills Rosetta’s view that it looks like it’s snowing.
— Read on curiosity.com/topics/astronomers-once-watched-a-star-turn-directly-into-a-black-hole-curiosity/
More new understanding about outer space
In the 1920s, astronomer Edwin Hubble brought about the modern age of cosmology when he discovered that the universe is expanding at a predictable rate, which has since been called the Hubble constant. Nearly 100 years later, more precise measurements have sharpened his accuracy — but may also put our current understanding of physics in limbo.
— Read on curiosity.com/topics/the-universe-is-expanding-but-how-fast-is-up-for-debate-curiosity
John Barleycorn 
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