Space Science Notes study notes for college and university students: the study of stars, planets, and other objects in space. Astronomers want to understand the universe and our planet’s.
Astrobiology. From the Greek: Astron (star), Bios (life) and Logos (word/science). The literal meaning of astrobiology is the science of life in the cosmos, the science of life outside, whether it be past, present, or future life. It is a branch of astronomy that investigates life in the Universe , in the broadest meaning of the term. Synonymous with astrobiology is “exobiology”, that is, the biology of outer space. … Read more
Astrochemistry is a relatively new area, which is halfway between astronomy, physics and chemistry, having as its main focus the study of the formation, destruction and abundance of molecules in various environments such as molecular clouds, regions of stellar birth. , planetary nebulae, protoplanetary disks, planetary atmospheres, comets, etc. One of the important topics addressed … Read more
Vega (Star) . ( Alpha Lyrae ). It is the fifth brightest star in the night sky and second in the northern hemisphere after Arthur . Vega is a white star , the brightest in the constellation Lyre. It is relatively close to the Solar System , about 25 light-years away . At first it was taken as a reference to the zero value of stellar magnitude , but subsequent measurements have deviated this value to +0.03. Vega has been … Read more
Icarus is a blue supergiant discovered in April 2018. It is the most distant star ever detected, located 9 billion light-years from Earth . The light that is currently reaching Earth was emitted 9 billion years ago (4.4 billion years after the Big Bang ). Its official name is MACS J1149 Lensed Star 1 (LS1) , but it has been nicknamed Icarus , in … Read more
The stars of Wolf-Rayet or Wolf-Rayet stars are stars massive, warm and evolved almost to the end of its cycle. They have an intense loss of material associated with strong stellar winds, they have a short duration, but they grow at a fairly high speed. On their surface these stars can easily reach 100. These stars emit a lot of radiation … Read more
VY Canis Majoris , also known as VY CMa or VY Canis Majoris (VY CMa abbreviation in English) is the star and largest of the brightest in the sky night. It’s a red hypergiant star located in the constellation of Canis Major . At the time it was the largest known star , although other larger stars were later discovered. Currently the largest known star is UY Scuti (although possibly Westerlund 1-26 ). Discovered a few years ago, … Read more
