58 min
034 - Globes full of stars The Skyentists
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- Science
That is the literal meaning of "Globular Clusters", which is the main topic of this episode of The Skyentists. Astronomers Kirsten Banks and Ángel López-Sánchez describe the main properties of globular clusters and why they should not be confused with open clusters or with dwarf elliptical galaxies. Some interesting curiosities about them are also discussed, as well as they explore the origin of these very old, very "metal-poor", giant stellar systems. For "What's Up!" they talk about M 13, the great globular cluster in Hercules, which is visible from the Northern and a good part of the Southern hemisphere. Regarding "Space News" Kirsten brings an interesting new astronomy-related cocktail (wait to hear that!) and, again, Ángel talks about Betelgeuse... As predicted, the famous supergiant red star in Orion is recovering brightness. Observations conducted using the SPHERE instrument installed at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) managed by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile have recently shown astonishing images of Betelgeuse: the dimming was in one of the hemispheres, perhaps related to some dust emission from the star, or perhaps because of the complex convective movements of the atmosphere, but not because of anything that was happening in its core. Both Ángel and Kirsten are very happy as they have received plenty of questions, meaning a good part of this episode is answering the feedback. Please, keep going!
That is the literal meaning of "Globular Clusters", which is the main topic of this episode of The Skyentists. Astronomers Kirsten Banks and Ángel López-Sánchez describe the main properties of globular clusters and why they should not be confused with open clusters or with dwarf elliptical galaxies. Some interesting curiosities about them are also discussed, as well as they explore the origin of these very old, very "metal-poor", giant stellar systems. For "What's Up!" they talk about M 13, the great globular cluster in Hercules, which is visible from the Northern and a good part of the Southern hemisphere. Regarding "Space News" Kirsten brings an interesting new astronomy-related cocktail (wait to hear that!) and, again, Ángel talks about Betelgeuse... As predicted, the famous supergiant red star in Orion is recovering brightness. Observations conducted using the SPHERE instrument installed at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) managed by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile have recently shown astonishing images of Betelgeuse: the dimming was in one of the hemispheres, perhaps related to some dust emission from the star, or perhaps because of the complex convective movements of the atmosphere, but not because of anything that was happening in its core. Both Ángel and Kirsten are very happy as they have received plenty of questions, meaning a good part of this episode is answering the feedback. Please, keep going!
58 min