Red Supergiant All Puffed Up


	Red Supergiant All Puffed Up

Rustee

4-10-2008 8:31 PM

244 views

tags:

astronomy, space, science

Add a Comment

Login to Comment. Not a member yet? Sign up

View the Top Clips from April 10, 2008

Embed This Clip In Your Site...

<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/995ceeba-322c-4c33-8c0f-727a161f023e/A0700B6E-7743-40D0-AD79-CC597525D5BC/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://stardate.org/radio/program.php?f=today" href="http://stardate.org/radio/program.php?f=today" style="font-size: 11px;">stardate.org</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://stardate.org/radio/program.php?f=today"><DIV>  Sometimes astronomical numbers are so immense that they’re simply, well, astronomical.</DIV></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://stardate.org/radio/program.php?f=today"><DIV>
 Consider a star known as Pi Puppis. It’s classified as a red supergiant. It’s more than a dozen times as massive as the Sun, but it’s a good bit cooler, so its surface glows orange. The star’s already entering the last stages of life, and fairly soon, it may explode as a supernova.</DIV></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://stardate.org/radio/program.php?f=today">If it took the Sun’s place in our own solar system, it would extend almost all the way out to the orbit of Mars.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://stardate.org/radio/program.php?f=today">
 Since stars are big balls, not disks, Pi Puppis would extend far above the plane of the solar system, too.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://stardate.org/radio/program.php?f=today"><DIV>
 But remember that Pi Puppis is only around a dozen times more massive than the Sun. When you compare the size and mass, you realize that Pi Puppis is just a puffed-up gasbag. Its outer layers are so thin that they’re hardly more than a vacuum. With the right kind of shielding, you might be able to fly a spaceship fairly deep into the star and come back out again -- a journey through an astronomical giant.</DIV></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/A0700B6E-7743-40D0-AD79-CC597525D5BC/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

Clipmarks: Home; New Clips; Top Clips; Dashboard

Popular Topics: News; Life; Science; Technology; Entertainment

Get Started: Sign Up; Install Clipping Tool; How Clipping Works; Clip-to-Blog™; ClipSearch

Tools and Resources: FAQ; ClipWeek; Top Clippers; Top Tags; Site Map

About Clipmarks: About Us; Contact; Blog; Copyright; Privacy; EULA

Search Options

Related Clips

More clips from Rustee

Today's Top Clips