The binary system V404-Cygni 8,000 light years from earth is a microquasar that contains a black hole more than nine times the mass of our own sun. The best evidence of the existence of black holes comes from binary systems where visible stars orbit an unknown mass, and a recent find has shown V404-Cygni rapidly rotating and pulling gas from the nearby star and ejecting … Continue reading 5 Minutes of Quasars
The Cassini-Huygens mission was a seven year journey of the NASA Cassini Orbiter along with the European Space Agency’ Huygens Probe intended to travel to the Saturn system. Titan IVB-Centaur rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral carrying the orbiter and probe in 1997 and passing Venus, Earth and our moon, an Asteroid Belt and Jupiter, the Huygens Probe successfully landed on Saturn’s moon Titan in … Continue reading 5 Minutes of the Cassini-Huygens Mission
A solar eclipse is a clear demonstration of celestial mechanics as the position of the moon and the sun temporarily shadows the sunlight on earth, and indeed for centuries has led to a number of mythologies that attempt to explain the geometry of the unknown universe and where civilisations and formidable historical figures came to greatly influence the study of science and astronomy as we … Continue reading 5 Minutes of the Solar Eclipse
Stellar black holes are scattered throughout the universe, formed under the right conditions when stars reach the end of their life cycle as it collapses into itself when it no longer contains the fuel to counteract the pressure of gravity and resist compression. In order to produce a black hole, the exploding star would need to have a mass greater than our sun (at least … Continue reading 5 Minutes of Super Massive Black Holes
