“Certain astronomers have suggested that the whole phenomenon of novae is due to collapse of the star, and that the energy released in the explosion was produced by compression within. They argue that the nova is a stage in the star’s evolution, the outburst marking one last splurge before it settles down to enjoy a lengthy old age.
The second outburst of T Coronae, however, clearly proves that the collapse theory is wrong.”
It is true that the nova on T Coronae Borealis which is a recurrent nova was not due to gravitational collapse of the star. However the other supernova they talk about, “Tycho’s Star“, is actually a type Ia supernova and was caused by the collapse of a white dwarf.
When Suns Explode
Ours seems sturdy, but bursting stars reveal illness of others.
By DONALD H. MENZEL
Professor of Astrophysics, Harvard University AN EXPLODING star is not news. Dozens of stars blow up each year, increasing: their brilliance 10,000 times or more. Most of them, however, are extremely faint before the outburst, and even at peak brightness are not visible to the naked eye. Really bright objects are rare. But when a star bursts twice in a century-that is astronomical news! It gives us significant scientific information about such stars.
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I’m pretty sure this is how E.T. got called to earth in the first place.
PLANETS ON UMBRELLA MAKE ASTRONOMY EASY
A new invention for amateur astronomers is said to make self-instruction in the secrets of the skies easy and absorbing. It is a homemade planetarium, which reproduces in miniature the dome of the heavens, showing the planets and constellations mapped out in their proper positions.
The unique contrivance was constructed by a New York City inventor from simple frame parts of metal and wood, while an old umbrella hood served for a dome. It rests on wheels so that it can be moved about without difficulty.
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I love it when writers with expertise in one area just throw in huge advances in other technologies as a possible result of another. Eg: What does a 3-D virtual conference room have to do with satellites? Would it not work with wires?
What the New Domestic COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITES Will Do for You
Canada’s pioneering Aniks, and U.S. successors, are introducing the revolutionary innovation of overland telephone-and-TV relays in the sky. They promise bargain rates for long-distance phone calls, picture phones that everyone can afford—and better television programs, by way of novel kinds of TV networks
By WERNHER von BRAUN
PS Consulting Editor, Space
On Jan. 11, 1973, Rudy Pudluk, community manager of Resolute on a Canadian island above the Arctic Circle, made a long-distance phone call to Ottawa. The English-speaking Eskimo chatted with Gerard Pelletier, Minister of Communications, and with David Golden, president of Telesat Canada, whose system carried his voice across the frozen North.
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In honor of yesterday’s Super Moon.
THE MOON AND THE SEX DRIVE
by Albert Abarbanel, Ph.D.
A discussion of theories about how the moon’s cycle affects the rise and fall of sex desire.
The moon has always played a prominent part in people’s beliefs about sex. Primitive tribes conduct elaborate fertility rites when the moon is full. The peasants of southern Germany, southern France and Spain believe that the best time to conceive a child is during a crescent moon. Police chiefs alert their sex squads for trouble when the moon is full.
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