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Can you really purchase and name a star?

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Some companies make money out of ‘selling stars’, or rather selling opportunities to name them, perhaps as a gift to a loved one. But is it really worth the money? If you have ever considered “purchasing” a star for the purpose of attaching your name or the name of a friend or relative to it, … Read more

‘Star Trek: Picard’ season 2 episode 2 continues to enthrall with dark timeline (review)

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Warning: Spoilers ahead for “Star Trek: Picard” season 2, episode 2 What an incredible week it’s been, sci-fi fans. Paramount Plus dropped the first official teaser trailer for “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” and, by a coincidence of galactic proportions, Disney dropped a teaser trailer for “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” the latest “Star Wars” live-action spin-off.  Plus … Read more

Hubble telescope captures spectacular laser-like jet from infant star (photo)

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A jet erupts from a young star in the object HH34 in this Hubble Space Telescope image unveiled on March 7, 2022. (Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, B. Nisini) The Hubble Space Telescope captured a laser-like jet that represents a “tantrum” being thrown by an infant star. The outburst came from a very young star … Read more

Space station telescope sees X-ray hot spots merge on supermagnetic star corpse

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For the first time, a powerful NASA telescope aboard the International Space Station observed merging “hot spots” on a weird star, known as a magnetar. The telescope is called the Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER), and seeks to understand more about the extreme conditions present in super-dense, city-sized neutron stars and their variants. (Magnetars, … Read more

Gaze in Awe at This Breathtaking Hubble Image of an Outburst From a Baby Star

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An epic outburst from a baby star still in the process of forming has been captured in a spectacular Hubble image. Roughly 1,250 light-years away, in the Orion molecular cloud star-forming region, jets from a protostar are punching through the cloud at supersonic speeds, heating the gas and causing it to glow brightly. The result … Read more

Lego Star Wars Yoda review

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Essential info Price: $99.99/£104.99 Model number: 75255 Number of pieces: 1,771 Dimensions: 16 inches (41cm) tall Recommended age: 10+ Originally released in October 2019, Lego Star Wars Yoda is one of the longest-running Star Wars sets still available. In fact, it’s only beaten by one set: the $800/£700 Millennium Falcon, which has been around since … Read more

Massive eruption on dead star pushes particles to cosmic speed limit

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A burned-out stellar core produced a shockwave that pushed particles to their theoretical speed limit, scientists have reported. Astronomers used a gamma-ray observatory in Namibia called the High Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS) to show how an eruption creates a shock wave that accelerates material around it super-fast speeds. The research focused on RS Ophiuchi, a … Read more

A Rare, Repeatedly Exploding Star Has Been Caught Producing Powerful Gamma Rays

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A rare star that repeatedly explodes appears to be also generating the most energetic form of light in the Universe. Analysis of an eruption from the binary system RS Ophiuchi has revealed that the shock wave expanding out into space acts as a particle accelerator that generates gamma radiation. This suggests the conditions that generate … Read more