08/17/2007
Astronomers Discover Star with Comet-like Tail
Since we haven't had much space news for you lately, the star Mira is here to fill the void. Astronomers made a curious unprecedented discovery recently, a star with a comet-like tail that is 13 light years long:
"Galaxy Evolution Explorer--"GALEX" for short--scanned the popular star during its ongoing survey of the entire sky in ultraviolet light. Astronomers then noticed what looked like a comet with a gargantuan tail. In fact, material blowing off Mira is forming a wake 13 light-years long, or about 20,000 times the average distance of Pluto from the sun. Nothing like this has ever been seen before around a star. 'I was shocked when I first saw this completely unexpected, humongous tail trailing behind a well-known star,' says Christopher Martin of the California Institute of Technology. 'It was amazing how Mira's tail echoed on vast, interstellar scales the familiar phenomena of a jet's contrail or a speedboat's turbulent wake.'"
The material in the star's tail has been released slowly over the past 30,000 years.
In other news from out there, NASA has concluded that no repairs to the Space Shuttle Endeavour's belly will be necessary before re-entry next week. The shuttle sustained a 3 1/2-inch-long, 2-inch-wide gouge caused by debris that broke off its external fuel tank upon liftoff.
Sphere: Related ContentPosted 6:17 PM EST by Andy in News, Space | Permalink
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Awesome.
Cosmology is fascinating.
Posted by: Timothy | Aug 17, 2007 6:29:57 PM
I would just like to suggest that they fix the gouge on the shuttle anyway, even if they don't think it needs fixing. The benefits outweigh the risk, if you know what I'm saying.
Posted by: Dana | Aug 17, 2007 7:01:59 PM
the friggin shuttles givin me agina. what exactly is the ppoint of it anyway? btw-carl(hero) sagan asked the question more than a decade and a half ago!
Posted by: petey | Aug 17, 2007 8:26:19 PM
Cool
Posted by: anon | Aug 17, 2007 9:11:37 PM
very beautiful...
Posted by: Adam Vanderlip | Aug 18, 2007 12:39:55 AM
re: the star... Industrial accident? :)
Posted by: scottevill | Aug 18, 2007 12:47:59 PM
yes, this is pretty cool. I'm totaly for space exploration and if the shuttle (among other things) keeps this as part of the public discourse I think that's great. Would be better if NASA could figure out how to apply 21st century tech to 20th century machinery.
Side note - exactly how to religious conservatives who believe in the literal naure of the bible deal with space and space exploration? If science can determine that something is 30,000 yo do they just think that's made up?
Posted by: hoya86 | Aug 18, 2007 6:55:47 PM
Hoya86 YES that is exactly what many of them think.
They used to actualy preach that dinosaur fossils were put in the ground by satan to tempt humans away from their fairytale.
They have "evolved" :-) their position to adam and eve actualy rode dinosaurs around and it was much like the flinstones ala the new creationist museum in kentucky or kansas. They actualy have a little tricerotops (spell check) model with a riding sadle on it.
CRAZY
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Posted by: vera | Aug 19, 2007 7:31:49 AM
whoa!
that is pretty cool
Posted by: gabriel | Aug 20, 2007 9:54:04 AM