Astronomers Witness the End of a World
Astronomers recently observed a planet being eaten by its star. In billions of years, the Earth will experience the same fate. Continue reading Astronomers Witness the End of a World
Tag: Stars
TRAPPIST-1 and Earth’s distant cousins
The recent discovery of Earth-like planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system has been a major headline for the past few weeks. A team led by Michael Gillon found three planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system in 2016, and recently reported at least 4 more which may contain the appropriate elements for life. One of the strongest indicators that a planet could harbor life is if a planet’s … Continue reading TRAPPIST-1 and Earth’s distant cousins
Discovery of a Dark Matter Galaxy
Last week, astronomers announced the discovery of a galaxy that is almost entirely comprised of dark matter. At first glance, the galaxy, Dragonfly 44, is roughly the same size as the Milky Way, but only contains 1 percent as many stars. Naively, one would expect this galaxy to be torn apart by its surroundings in the Coma Cluster. However, Dragonfly 44 is composed of 99.99% … Continue reading Discovery of a Dark Matter Galaxy