Betelgeuse
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What are Variable Stars?
What if I told you that the “two” stars you see here are actually one and the same? This star, known as L Carinae after its location in the southern constellation Carina, is actually what we call a variable star.…
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How a Star Expands
Meet Betelgeuse, a bright star in the winter constellation Orion. Betelgeuse is a cool red supergiant that we’ll talk about a lot more in just a couple weeks, when we cover variable stars. Not too long ago, it was the…
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Where Did the Interstellar Medium Come From?
Contrary to popular belief, space is not empty. The space between the stars is filled with clouds of dust and gas. And this space — the interstellar medium — is incredibly beautiful and fascinating. I often refer to the interstellar…
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The Average Star
What the heck is the average star like? We’ve talked about a lot of stars over the past few weeks. We’ve discovered the vast distances between the stars, looked more closely at what really makes a star bright, and covered all…
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Just How Big Are Stars?
Tell me about the stars you see in this image. They look like billions of little pinpricks of light, right? It’s hard to imagine that each one of these is probably the size of the sun…or much larger. And the…
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The True Brightness of Stars
Have you ever looked up at the night sky and noticed that while relatively bright stars outline the constellations, there are numerous other stars that are almost too faint to see with the naked eye? If you ever noticed this,…
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Mapping the Sky
I need you guys to help me with something. Can you find a horse in this image of the night sky? Yeah, me neither. I’m lost. I see the Great Square of Pegasus because I know what to look for,…
