nuclear fusion
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Cosmology Demystified
That has got to be the single strangest post title I’ve ever written. Of all the whacky branches of science out there, cosmology almost takes the cake — second only, I think, to the downright trippy world of quantum mechanics.…
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The First Nucleosynthesis
One minute after the Big Bang, all the protons, neutrons, and electrons that would ever exist had been produced. There were no atomic nuclei, though. No atoms. No materials as you and I know it — like wood, metal, or…
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How Massive Stars Die
When people think of star death, they most often think of supernovae (plural for supernova). So why haven’t I spent the past bunch of posts on star death talking about them? Because supernovae are not actually the most common fate…
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The Adult Life of a Star
Stars are like cars. They need fuel to go. And also like cars, they don’t have an infinite supply. But here’s where the metaphor breaks down. They can never refuel. Yup. That’s right. For their entire lives, stars are stuck…
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The Story of a Newborn Star
What happens when a star is born? A couple of posts ago, I explained how a protostar forms out of a dense cloud core within the interstellar medium. But…wait. What exactly is a protostar again? A protostar forms when one…
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The Solar Neutrino
Ever heard of a neutrino? Well, I guess now you have. But what exactly is a neutrino? Don’t worry, they’re not harmful. They’re passing through you this very second and you’ll never notice them, not in your whole life. They’ll never…
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The Proton-Proton Chain
Take a wild guess: how much energy do you think the sun generates? Think about it. It definitely generates enough energy to power a world. Humans depend on the photosynthesis of plants, which converts sunlight into energy. And that’s not…
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The Battery of the Sun
Does this image look familiar? It should — these are soap bubbles. Okay, now you’re probably going to ask me how soap bubbles have anything to do with the battery of the sun. Well…you might be surprised to know that…
