Scientists spot elusive mini red giant stars, victims of stellar stealing

A tug-of-war between neighboring stars led to the formation of two strange types of red giant star, as seen in the eyes of a lost telescope. Astronomers reported finding 40 examples of two different varieties of slimmed-down red giant stars. Scientists expected that such objects existed, since red giants are often in binary systems next to the dense core of a dead star, called a white dwarf, that can sometimes be a greedy neighbor. (These mismatched pairs arise because red giants form together; then, late in their lives, each sheds…

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Ax-1, Israel and the ‘New Space’ revolution: Q&A with Israel space chief Uri Oron

Israel punches above its weight in space science and exploration, as it does in most other arenas. For example, the country developed its own line of orbital rockets, the Shavit (“Comet”) series, which has lofted a number of satellites over the years. And in April 2019, Israel’s Beresheet (“In the Beginning”) mission attempted to put a robotic lander down on the moon, something achieved only by the United States, the USSR/Russia and China — and nearly succeeded. Not bad for a nation of 9 million people, which is only slightly…

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