Sketch I did of Cassiopeia A 

If you follow me, you know that I love supernova remnants. I actually have an observing program designed around them and have observed and sketched each of the ones in the program.  These include  Veil Nebula Complex SNR in Cygnus, which is perhaps the most beautiful of the eye candy SNR’s. Another equally wonderful SNR is Messier 1, the Crab Nebula. 

I have also observed fainter ones like IC 443, Semies 147, Sharpless 2-91 another SNR in Cygnus north of Alberio, Cassiopeia A are some of them. Those sketches and observations are over at Eadsy Astronomy.

However, astronomers have found one that neither I or any visual observer, nor imager will observe and capture.  It is called the Abeona SNR and this is the story of how it was found and discovered.  The truth is it is actually so faint it almost wasn’t found at all!

For the full article and a look at my SNR sketches, head over to Eadsy Astronomy. 

Does the Mass of a Star Cluster Determine how Massive its brightest stars will become?

 

When the Milky Way or any galaxy develosp new stars, they are usually formed inside of vast gas clouds into star clusters. We usually call these open star clusters. 

In these open clusters of stars, we find a diversity of stellar types. Some stars are small, cool and dim. Some are like our Sun, just your average star. Others though possess ten times or more the mass of our Sun and shine hundreds of thousands of times brighter. These stars also have a much shorter lifespan.

When we look at a galaxy, we find that the differences in mass in these open clusters has a significant impact on how bright the galaxy is. If for example, a dwarf galaxy has a total mass that is low, it won't produce any really extremely massive stars that are brighter than our Sun.

This raised a question if the actual mass of individual stars in cluster is a matter of chance or not. The video looks into the answer to that question and the article and link to the research paper are over at Eadsy Astronomy  

Why Stars as the age spin faster or slower before their death

 've shared this many times, I live studying the lifecycle of stars. Just as with most things in the universe, there is a cycle of birth, life and then eventually death. It seems to be a common thing from you and me, to planets, to solar systems and yes, even stars. The difference is how long each lives for.

In a recent study LINK, a team of researchers at Kyoto University have been inspired by other research teams that looked at 3D simulations of the solar convective zone to examine how magnetic fields affect rotation inside of massive stars.

Using a 3D model, the team examined the dynamics interplay between the violent convection, rotation and magnetic fields within a massive star. The study reveals that the speed and direction of convective rotations within a star are influenced by the rotation and magnetic fields over short timescales. This changes the rotation either causing it to slow down or go faster.

The article and link to the research paper are over at Eadsy Astronomy.