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The presence of a number of planets circling other stars has been
inferred by studying the wobbles the planets make in their stars.
Just one, extra-solar planet, has been observed in transit
across the face of it's star! How was it observed?
Fascinating but distant Neighbours. There is of
course a star of modest size only one AU (Astronomical Unit) away!
Next to us is a binary system just over 4 light years
away. In fact binary systems abound!
I believe the only news of any interest
does not come from the great cities or
from the councils of state, but from
some lonely watcher on the hills who
has a momentary glimpse of infinitude
and feels the universe rushing at him.
- A. E.'s Letters to Minanlabain
Where is Sol? Is there a black hole at the center? Will we collide with another Galaxy? How long does it take Sol to circle the Milky Way?
Our galaxy itself contains a hundred billion stars.
It's a hundred thousand light years side to side.
It bulges in the middle, sixteen thousand light years thick,
But out by us, it's just three thousand light years wide.
We're thirty thousand light years from galactic central point.
We go 'round every two hundred million years,...
- from "Galaxy Song" by John Cleese
Lightyear: The distance light travels in one year - at nearly 300,000 kilometres per second!
The big telescopes - Hubble - Colliding too!
And our galaxy is only one of millions of billions
In this amazing and expanding universe.
The universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding
In all of the directions it can whizz
As fast as it can go, at the speed of light, you know,
Twelve* million miles a minute,
and that's the fastest speed there is.
- from "Galaxy Song" by John Cleese
* He is exaggerating a little!
Variables are stars that change in brightness, some pulse, others wax and wane fast or slowly, regularly or irregularly, while still others are exploding or fading. See Stars
Click here for a midling picture of the Ring Nebula.
This art image depicts a black hole swallowing its binary companion star. The disk of matter from the star, about the black hole, is called an accretion disk.
Check this VLA image of the galaxy M87 , showing details of the large-scale, radio-emitting "bubbles" believed to be powered by the black hole at the galaxy's center. The galaxy's center (and the black hole) lie deep within the bright, reddish region in this image. The structure in this image is approximately 200,000 light-years across. This image was made at a radio wavelength of 90 centimeters. See `Black Hole in Distant Galaxy' below.
| Contents | The Solar System | Human Exploration of Space |
Last updated 17 February 2000.
Compiled by Noel Fuller Comment and correction welcome.
