
Following is a summary of current science news briefs.
Eerie image shows spectacular aftermath of a large star’s death
The aftermath of a large star’s explosive death is seen in an image released on Monday by the European Southern Observatory, showing immense filaments of brightly shining gas that was blasted into space during the supernova. Before exploding at the end of its life cycle, the star is believed to have had a mass at least eight times greater than our sun. It was located in our Milky Way galaxy about 800 light years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Vela. A light year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km).
‘Dreaming of the Heavens’: China launches final module to space station
China on Monday launched the last of the three modules that will comprise its space station, set to be the second permanently inhabited outpost in low-earth orbit after the NASA-led International Space Station. The uncrewed Mengtian, or “Dreaming of the Heavens”, module was launched atop China’s most powerful rocket, the Long March 5B, at 3:37 p.m. (0737 GMT) from the Wenchang Space Launch Centre in the southern island province of Hainan.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX expects first Starship launch to orbit this year -NASA
SpaceX is targeting early December to launch its giant Starship rocket system into orbit for the first time, a pivotal demonstration flight as it aims to fly NASA astronauts to the moon in the next few years, a U.S. official said on Monday. Billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX has sought for years to send its towering next-generation rocket system into orbit from the company’s private launch facilities in Texas, where it has only launched prototypes of Starship’s upper half some 6 miles (10 km) high to demonstrate landing attempts.
(With inputs from agencies.)
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