“There are something like a trillion galaxies in the observable universe, of a range of sizes. And galaxy collisions happen a lot. In fact, galaxies primarily grow by cannibalizing other (smaller) galaxies. Our own has eaten several—we can see streams of stars as debris. In fact, galaxies primarily…”Tagged: Space, Astronomy, Universe, Solar System, Stars
“I mean OK the fact that we can WATCH THE SUN VIBRATE & figure out what’s inside, that’s cool, but we can also do this for OTHER STARS. It’s called asteroseismology & it’s kind of blowing my mind today.”Tagged: Space, Astronomy, Sun
“A 'hypernova' is a supernova (exploding star), but, like, more so. (It’s defined as being any supernova that’s at least 10 times as luminous as usual.)”Tagged: Space, Astronomy, astronomical terms, Stars, Star
“A 'cataclysmic variable' is where a compact dense white dwarf star is in a binary orbit with a bigger puffier star & the WD (white dwarf) rips material off its companion & that material detonates on the WD’s surface.”Tagged: Space, Astronomy, astronomical terms, Stars
“'Violent relaxation' comes from highly technical uses of both those terms. “Relaxation” referring to a system (eg, stars in a cluster) achieving some equilibrium (steady) state, and “violent” meaning rapid. It can happen when mass comes together quickly gravitationally.”Tagged: Space, Astronomy, astronomical terms, Stars
“'Spaghettification'” is what happens to you when you fall into a black hole feet first (for instance) and the gravity is so much stronger on your feet than your head that you’re stretched out to some kind of spaghetti-like carnage-shape.”Tagged: Space, space terms, Universe, astronomical terms, Astronomy