Editorial: From the solar system to the distant universe
Dear reader,
In our journal we already have some wonderful examples of collaboration between amateurs and professionals in astronomical research. Starting on page 28, Nicholas Stenken tells you his personal story of how he came into contact with professional astronomers while studying a variable star. The work was about racing stars (English: runaway stars), which make their way through the interstellar medium due to their extremely rapid self-motion. International cooperation even led to its publication in a specialized journal.
USSR/Russia, USA, China and now India: The fourth country has now quietly landed on the moon using a probe. Tilman Althaus details the successful space project starting on page 38.
Now, exactly what we hoped the James Webb Space Telescope would do has happened: it is penetrating deep into the early universe nearly 13 billion years ago. In the Dark Age there were no stars or galaxies, only neutral hydrogen and helium. Jan Hattenbach presents a study on page 24 that reveals the first sources whose high-energy radiation ionized this previously neutral universe.
Axel Schaub presents the search for a truly strange white dwarf (p. 19). This can periodically flash like a pulsar. The dwarf star is the second object in this category. There are still some mysteries about how the amazing explosions occurred.
The Apollo 16 mission to the Moon dates back about 50 years, but only now is it known exactly where its legacy landed on our satellite. Michael Khan provides details in the short report on page 23.
Klaus Peter Schröder finally points out a special celestial event on November 9th: the Moon will move in front of Venus! Read more about this from page 63.
Thomas Henning is not only director of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, but also one of the editors of the journal Stars & Space. For his research work he was honored with the highest award of the Astronomical Society: the Karl Schwarzschild Medal (see p. 76). The editorial team warmly congratulates you!
Hurry to the magazine! Yours, Andreas Müller
Please allow Javascript to maintain the full functionality of Spektrum.de.
“Alcohol buff. Troublemaker. Introvert. Student. Social media lover. Web ninja. Bacon fan. Reader.”
More Stories
Consciousness in animals: and they still feel
Question for information – What is the impact of climate change on migratory birds?
How is it treated and how can it be prevented?