Myriad peaks to climb, countless canyons to explore on celestial bodies. New worlds to settle, new vistas to be awed by, new knowledge to absorb. Lightyears to go before you sleep.
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Could a nearby supernova extinguish life on Earth?
We’ve explored what would happen if our Sun went supernova [link]. Spoiler: while it would be lethal enough to necessitate evacuation to Pluto or beyond, it’s not the biggest headache for humankind today. But what if another star, not very far from our Solar System, exploded? We’ve seen that a supernova explosion could pose a…
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What would happen if the Sun went supernova?
If the thought of our Sun going supernova ever occurred to me, I always assumed that Earth, from crust to the last inhabitant, would be instantly terminated. We’d see a gigantic fireball on the sky, and before we could say “supernova!”, we’d turn into hot vapour. Not long ago I read a short story that…
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The 10 best exoplanets for setting up home
We went hiking in the Solar System [link], but what lies beyond? It’s hard to imagine now, but before the 1990s astronomers were not even certain that any other star hosted planets: discovering the first exoplanets in 1992 and 1994 made headlines, and they all got individual names (Poltergeist, Phobetor and Draugr, a variety of…