Science world

  Estimates by astronomers indicate that there could be more than 100 BILLION Earth-like worlds in the Milky Way that could be home to life. Think that’s a big number? According to astronomers,    there are roughly 500 billion galaxies in the known universe, which means there are around 50,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (5×1022) habitable planets. That’s of course if there’s just ONE universe. In fact, just inside our own Milky Way Galaxy experts now believe are some 400 BILLION STARS, but this number may seem small as some astrophysicists believe that stars in our galaxy could figure the TRILLION. This means that the Milky Way alone could be home to more than 100 BILLION planets. However, since astronomers aren’t able to see our galaxy from the outside, they can’t really know for sure the number of planets the Milky Way is home to. They can only provide estimates. To do this, experts calculate our galaxy’s mass and calculate how much of that mass is composed of stars. Based...

  The strangest star in the universe is not alone. In 2015, astronomers reported unusual behaviors in the star "KIC 8462852" which they could not explain. Now, another team has discovered a second star that behaves similarly to KIC 8462852. It is called "EPIC 204278916" and is even stranger than the first. Find out more about this mysterious star in the video below:

  For the first time ever, scientists have been able to detect the formation of a planetary system. A research paper, published in Nature, proposes that the detected objects are newly born planets, which are currently put together by tremendously hot gas and dust. By means of the system images captured between 2009 and 2015, the group of astronomers was able to detect two protoplanets - small objects that continue to form planets - together with a third potential, in orbit around a LkCa 15 star in an elliptical orbit, as expected by the planets. Image Credit: Artist's Illustration of Planets Developing in a Transition Disc like LkCa 15. The planets within the disc clearing collect material that would otherwise have fallen on the star, NASA / JPL-Caltech Identifying the formation of planets is a rather difficult task. Newborn star systems are generally shielded in a cloud of dust that blocks our view, making normal observation methods inadequate. As a result, the team of astronomers...

A nova may be a dramatic episode within the lifetime of a binary pair of stars. It's an explosion of bright light that may last weeks or perhaps months. And though they are not exactly rare - there are about 10 every year within the galaxy - astronomers haven't watched one from start to end. Until now. A nova occurs in an exceedingly close binary system when one amongst the celebs has had its red giant star phase. That star leaves behind a remnant white dwarf star. When the star and its partner become close enough, the large gravitational pull of the white dwarf star draws material, mostly hydrogen, from the opposite star. That hydrogen accretes onto the surface of the white dwarf star, forming a skinny atmosphere. The white dwarf star heats the hydrogen, and eventually, the pressure level is extremely high, and fusion is ignited. Not just any fusion: rapid, runaway fusion. Artist's impression of a nova eruption, showing the star accreting matter from its companion. (Nova_b...