All stars are born through the same basic mechanism but their evolution depends on their size. In particular, all stars go through a hydrogen-fuel stage but the time spent fusing hydrogen is determined by the star's initial mass. The final fate of a star is also predicted by its mass; some stars will simply fade … Continue reading The formation, life and death of stars
Chandra: the Universe as seen in X-rays
Chandra is the unsung hero of space telescopes. Far better known is the Hubble Space Telescope, which is rightly famous for the spectacular images it has produced. But Hubble was only ever intended to be one arm of a four-pronged approach to astronomical observations, another of which is provided by Chandra. Whereas Hubble produces images … Continue reading Chandra: the Universe as seen in X-rays
The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram
It is obvious that the stars in the night sky differ from one another; some look brighter, some appear larger and some have different colours. One of the earliest ideas was that all stars are the same but they look different because they are at different stages of development: it’s as simple as the fact … Continue reading The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram
Mr Tarrant's physbang 'blog 