Double Post: Mini Stars & Morning Micrometeorites on Mercury

Alliteration is accessible to all! Okay I’m done. Start some science! Really done this time.  Today’s double post covers the smallest of stars, still larger than most planets, and the only weather Mercury will ever have. Humans are naturally interested in the extremes, the biggest, smallest, fastest, hottest, coldest, and every other characteristic outlier.  With stars, being so huge and powerful, we are often more interested in the largest, hottest, and most energetic.  Though on the opposite end of the spectrum, Cambridge University astronomers have discovered the smallest star in the known universe. The star, a red dwarf, has the...

What is the largest Galaxy in the Known Universe?

I sometimes forget just how big things can be in the Universe.  And I often forget just how small and insignificant we are in the grand scheme of things.  Then I see a Galaxy like IC 1101 side by side with our own and I very quickly remember. About 350 Million light years from Earth IC 1101 is the largest galaxy in the known Universe in terms of actual size. If you didn’t notice the image above, it shows our own Milky Way Galaxy as a little tiny dot in the bottom left corner, and then Andromeda our closest neighbour,...