Ever felt like the weight of the world is on your shoulders? Well instead the mass of your core is causing you greater problems! It's exceeding the Chandrasekhar limit and so your Electron Degeneracy Pressure will be unable to support your weight against the force of gravity. This is very bad news, even Weightwatchers can't help. Your core will undergo sudden, catastrophic collapse. Talk about crumbling under pressure!
You've now been part of theSkyNet for 128 days!
You've had an emotional journey; you have gone from being a size 25 (times bigger than Earth's Sun) to a size 40. You may be newly evolved from the main-sequence and still with high mass, or a much more evolved post-red supergiant that has lost a significant fraction of your initial mass, but its a confusing time so who knows, apart from yourself. Almost all of your HyperGiant brethren exhibit variations in luminosity over time due to instabilities within their interiors (emotions again), but lets not judge a star from its shine!
You've now been part of theSkyNet for 64 days!
You have an extreme mass and are in danger of only surviving for 30 million years, or less!! You've got to this point because you became too big when you were a main-sequence star and ran out of hydrogen in your core (greedy star!). You then expanded and began to fuse helium in your core almost immediately. You've become so large that you are able to fuse elements heavier than helium (impressive) and furthermore you won't have to become a white dwarf since you can't lose enough mass!
You've now been part of theSkyNet for 32 days!
So you're getting a bit hot under the collar? That's no worry, that’s just your Thermal Pulse! This is caused by the energy that is produced by a burning shell closer to your surface. The helium from this hydrogen burning shell drops towards your very centre, and periodically the energy output from the helium shell increases dramatically. Depending on your mass and composition, there could be several to hundreds of thermal pulses!
You've now been part of theSkyNet for 16 days!
You've come back from the doctor and the results aren’t great, your core is collapsing! Since the internal pressure of your core is insufficient to balance gravity…dang, you're collpasing! Due to this collapse, you're releasing energy, which is heating up concentric shells outside your inert helium core. So at least you're able to do some hydrogen fusion! Your doctor has however prescribed you Electron Degeneracy Pressure, for when you become dense enough. This will stop you collapsing and allows your core to reach hydrostatic equilibrium. Your core's gravity compresses the hydrogen that's in a layer immediately above it, causing it to fuse faster than normal, but have no fear because you are around 10,000 times brighter and have expanded to match!
You've now been part of theSkyNet for 8 days!
So you think you’re mature enough? Well, congratulations you've left the main-sequence stage and matured into a Red Giant! You have roughly a mass of around 0.5 - 10 times the mass of Earth's Sun. Your core is inert with hydrogen burning shells, lets just say these are layers atop your core that are still fusing hydrogen into helium, no biggy.
You've now been part of theSkyNet for 4 days!
Welcome to the Elite group of main-sequence stars. You’re the coolest of your group and fusing hydrogen in a laidback manner, allowing yourself to have a longer lifespan of hundreds of billions of years, longer than some of the bigger hotheads in your group.
You've now been part of theSkyNet for 2 days!
Congratulations! You are successfully initiating your proton-proton chain reaction and allowing hydrogen to fuse! You're well on your way to becoming a main-sequence star. By having a mass slightly more than the mass of Earth's Sun, you're allowing your carbon-nitrogen-oxygen fusion reaction (CNO cycle) to take place and this contributes a great deal to your energy generation. It must feel great to have your weight under control by quickly achieving hydrostatic equilibrium, which exerts 'radiation pressure', balancing your weight and avoiding those terrible gravitational collapses.
You've now been part of theSkyNet for 1 day!
Thanks to the exciting gravitational collapse of a giant molecular cloud your stellar life has just begun. As a typical infant, your release of collapsing gas causes heat (mainly due to gravitational potential energy). As temperature and pressure increases you condense into a rotating sphere of superhot gas!
Thank you for joining theSkyNet.
Looking at your galactic-GPS you’ve now reached the Earth-sky coordinates 01h 36m 41.8s, +15° 47′ 01″. Obviously you know that’s 32 million light years away from Earth! You must also know due to your coordinates that you’re in the Pisces constellation, and due to its two clearly defined spiral arms it's a perfect example of a grand design spiral galaxy (helped by its 'face-on' orientation).
You've helped process 15,000 galaxies for theSkyNet POGS - thank you!
Is it a taco? Is it a burrito? No, but it is a Sombrero Galaxy! At 28 million light years away in the Virgo constellation you can see what is fantastically named as the Sombrero Galaxy, or M104. It is named for its bright nucleus, prominent dust lane, inclined disc and unusually large central bulge (cheeky).
You've helped process 12,000 galaxies for theSkyNet POGS - thank you!
*Cue Applause* We welcome another true great in the universe to your tour, sitting a mere 23 (±4) million light years away, the Whirlpool Galaxy needs no introduction! Being one of the best-known galaxies in our sky it is easily spotted by amateurs, and scrutinized intensely by professional astronomers. A few facts that may have slipped your attention are that it’s an interacting grand-design spiral galaxy, which is situated in the Canes Venatici constellation.
You've helped process 10,000 galaxies for theSkyNet POGS - thank you!
That was a close call at M64, but you’ve survived, and it’s definitely a good job because you’ve come to the very impressive M106. At about 25 million light years away this spiral galaxy is suspected to be falling into a supermassive black hole, if you look closely you can tell due to its unusual emission lines and emitted x-rays. Though we’re sure you're noticing the water vapor mega-maser instead! (A maser is the equivalent of a laser operating in microwaves instead of light, but on a galactic scale!)
You've helped process 7000 galaxies for theSkyNet POGS - thank you!
You must be feeling a little jet lagged by now, since you've travelled around 24 million light years! But its not in vain, you have the delight of witnessing a galaxy known as M64, or even cooler, the Black Eye Galaxy or Evil Galaxy. We know you may not want to linger around much longer at this Evil Galaxy but here are some quick facts; discovered 1780, spiral galaxy, in the Coma Berenices constellation. Now run! Quick, to the next Messier Object!
You've helped process 5000 galaxies for theSkyNet POGS - thank you!
12 million light years away from home and yet you've shown no fear coming this far! Welcome to the Ursa Major Constellation. Here we present M81, Bode’s Galaxy, duly named after its discoverer Johann Elert Bode in 1774. It is a classic spiral galaxy but also a very popular target for amateur astronomers due to its large size and very active galactic nucleus which is harboring a supermassive black hole 70 millions times the mass of our Sun… not bad!
You've helped process 3000 galaxies for theSkyNet POGS - thank you!
It’s always friendly to meet the neighbors, especially if they are only a mere 3 million light years away! That being said here is M33, the Triangulum Galaxy, or sometimes referred to as the Pinwheel Galaxy. It is a member of our Local Group of galaxies (also including the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy). Possibly being bound to Andromeda, the Triangulum houses around 40 billion stars, which compared to what the other two have isn’t a large amount, making it one of the most distant, permanent, objects that can be viewed with the naked eye. Lucky for you, you can now keep it on your trophy shelf!
You've helped process 2000 galaxies for theSkyNet POGS - thank you!
Last on the infamous Messier List, but not the furthest in your journeys, we have M110. This is a dwarf elliptical galaxy and a satellite to the great Andromeda Galaxy. Interestingly enough Charles Messier never included the galaxy onto his list, although did depict it in a drawing of the Andromeda galaxy. With a distance of 2.7million light years we hope this isn’t the last time we see M110.
You've helped process 1000 galaxies for theSkyNet POGS - thank you!
You’ve not voyaged far to reach our nearest, and most impressive, spiral galaxy, Messier 31 - or best known as the Andromeda Galaxy. Located in the (shocking surprise) Andromeda Constellation, it is by far the largest galaxy in our Local Group with around 1 trillion stars! With a not-too-far away distance of around 2.5 million light years, it's no surprise that our galaxy and Andromeda are expected to collide in a mere 3.75 billion years, merging to form a giant elliptical galaxy.
You've helped process 700 galaxies for theSkyNet POGS - thank you!
Its not often you get a chance to witness the “Pillars of Creation” that belong to the famous Eagle Nebula, known as M16. At 7000 lightyears away, this young open cluster of stars is situated in the constellation of Serpens. Its famous towers of gas within the nebula are approximately 9.5 lightyears high, or to put that in perspective, around 90 trillion kilometers!
You've helped process 500 galaxies for theSkyNet POGS - thank you!
Reaching 6300 light years from Earth, you must be feeling quite good about yourself, and why not! Its not everyday you come across the Crab Nebula. A source of constant observation, this supernova remnant is located in the constellation of Taurus. Observed early in history by Chinese Astronomers in 1054, it has an apparent magnitude of 8.4, which is about as bright as Saturn’s largest moon (being Titan of course!)
You've helped process 200 galaxies for theSkyNet POGS - thank you!
The decisively named Omega/Swan/Checkmark/Lobster/Horseshoe Nebula or M17 is 5000-6000 light years away, welcome! Situated in the Sagittarius constellation in the Milky Way, it's considered one of the brightest and most massive star forming regions of our galaxy.
You've helped process 100 galaxies for theSkyNet POGS - thank you!
You’ve ventured into the Sagittarius constellation and stumbled on an emission nebula named the Lagoon Nebula, or M8. First discovered in 1654 by Giovanni Hodierna, you’ve come about 4000-6000 light years. You’re doing well so far, keep on travelling.
You've helped process 70 galaxies for theSkyNet POGS - thank you!
Congratulations on discovering a new nebula!… is what they were saying to Charles Messier on June 5, 1764. This is M20, or the Trifid Nebula, which means “divided into three lobes”. It is an unusual combination of: an open cluster of stars, an emission nebula, a reflection nebula and a dark nebula. With a distance of 5200 light years it’s quite a peculiar favorite!
You've helped process 50 galaxies for theSkyNet POGS - thank you!
2,300 light years! Good trip, young galactic traveller. Hitchhiking seems to be treating you well. You have stumbled upon M57, or as its known to its friends, the Ring Nebula. You’ve found this nebula because you’ve ventured into the northern constellation of Lyra. However this particular nebula, as I’m sure you’re already aware, was formed when a shell of ionized gas was expelled into the surrounding interstellar medium by a red giant star (most likely evolving into a white dwarf!)
You've helped process 20 galaxies for theSkyNet POGS - thank you!
When you think things couldn’t get any better in the Orion constellation, they do! Welcome to Messier 78, a reflection nebula. Reflect what we hear? Light of course! From nearby stars. But lets have a quick look at how far you have come…1600 light years! Not bad, but you still have a long journey ahead of you!
You've helped process ten galaxies for theSkyNet POGS - thank you!
Introducing the heavyweight nebula of the galaxy… the Orion Nebula! Coming in at a visual magnitude of 4.0 at a distance of 1344±20 lightyears, this nebula is fighting from its location under Orion's belt. Its recent knockouts for science have been the direct observation of protoplanetary discs, brown dwarfs, as well as intense and turbulent motions of gas.
You've helped process five galaxies for theSkyNet POGS - thank you!
As you continue on your galactic journey, on your left you will see M27, the Dumbbell Nebula. It's a planetary nebula in the Vulpecula constellation, being around 1360 lightyears away from Earth. Interestingly enough it was the first planetary nebula to be discovered by Charles Messier in 1764 and has become a popular target due to its vast brightness with a visual magnitude of 7.5. Going to definitely need the sunnies today!
You've helped process two galaxies for theSkyNet POGS - thank you!
Welcome to the beginning of your journey! Your first pit stop is M45 a.k.a Pleiades, which is one of our closest star clusters at only 390-460 ly (lightyears) from Earth. This particular group of stars is an open star cluster located in the constellation of Taurus. It is dominated by hot blue and extremely luminous stars, which have only formed within the last 100 million years, enjoy it while you can!
You've helped process one galaxy for theSkyNet POGS - thank you!
You processed some of theSkyNet POGS galaxy number 40,000! Thank you!
The Hard Disk Drive, vital part of any computer that you want to actually do stuff with. They've been around since the dawn of computing - 1956 saw the first HDD, with a 3.75MB capacity it was bigger than a car! Now available with storage in the TBs.
It doesn't look like a thumb, but USB Thumb Drives (or more fancily, USB Flash Drives) are now a popular data and back up storage device. From humble beginnings of only holding 8MB, 2013 will see a 1TB Thumb Drive hit the market. 1TB - that's a LOT of photos of your kids, ready to whip out of your pocket at a moment's notice to inflict on unsuspecting strangers.
The new format of choice for HD home movies, and your data needs, Blu-rays beat out the HD DVD in the late 2000's to be the 'next big thing' in storage formats. Storing up to 128GB in its quadruple layer format, it's a far cry from the comparatively measly storage of the humble CD.
Ahh, the DVD. If video killed the radio star, then surely these killed the VHS. Often thought to stand for Digital Versatile Disc, or arguably Digital Video Disc, DVD in fact stands for nothing (except easy home access to cinematic brilliance.)
Oh the MiniDisc, remember those? You were so cool, strutting around with your music player full of colourful MiniDiscs, each holding up to an amazing 80 minutes of music! Props to anyone that still has one of these in use, we applaud you, retro storage fiend.
Now we're talking, we've got some seriously good looking storage happening here. The humble Compact Disk can still be found in homes everywhere, storing anything from your collection of Neil Diamond songs to photos of your cousin's wedding. With storage capacities up to 700MB and the tech to read it in almost every computer, this little beauty still has some life in it yet.
Wow, look at this sweet bit of storage from the 90's. It needed its own special drive, but man oh man, it could store up to 750MB of your files in one hit! Do you miss it? We sure do.
Wow, your storage has been upgraded to the technological marvel that is the 3.5" Floppy. Your 80's throwback storage can hold up to 2.88MB of your data. That's like 80% of a Duran Duran song, right?
Congratulations, you've earnt yourself some hipster retro storage for your data. This 5.25" floppy was the peak of storage innovation in the mid 1970s but has since been relegated to your granny's attic in dusty old boxes. With a storage up to a whopping 1.2MB, we're glad technology has moved on.
We asked Brian for a good number for a trophy, this is what he gave us. Props if you can work out the significance of it in astronomy, the picture might help a little.
We asked Peter for a good number for a trophy, and this is what he gave us. Props if you can work out its significance to Earth, the picture might be a clue!
We asked Bryan to give us a good number, he looked down at what he was working on and gave us 1987, can you figure out why? The picture is a big clue!
Not just needed for healthy bones and teeth, looking for calcium in stars (most notably in our Sun) can help map their magnetic fields and rotation.
Pure potassium burns with a pale lilac flame and reacts violently with water. Potassium chloride can be used instead of table salt (sodium chloride) for people trying to cut salt out of their diet.
Argon is another of the unreactive noble gases. There's actually more Argon in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide (it's the third most common gas in the atmosphere.)
Not just something to make your eyes hurt in the pool, it's the main component in bleach. Chlorine was much more abundant on the early Earth, but astronomers think lots of large meteorite strikes allowed some of it to travel into the core, letting us evolve out of the oceans.
Stinky sulphur is a great element, responsible for the smell in garlic, skunk spray, rotting eggs and is even added to natural gas so that we can detect leaks.
Phosphorus is a component in fertilisers, detergents and a whole raft of everyday items. One form of phosphorus even glows in the dark when exposed to oxygen, which is where it gets its name from.
Silicon is one of the pillars of our modern technological society, you're probably carrying a whole bunch of it around with you every day. One notable use is in the CCDs that optical telescopes use to collect light from distant stars and galaxies, which eventually made their way into cameras and your smart phone.
Soft drink cans aren't the only useful thing Aluminium is good for, one of the astronomical uses is the coating on telescope mirrors to make them nice and reflective.
Magnesium is the third most common element in seawater (after sodium and chlorine) and burns with a super bright white flame. It's very easily produced in stars, so there's a lot of it out there - 13% of the Earth's mass is magnesium.
Sodium, the stuff that makes all your food taste better (when mixed with Chlorine). It's also super useful for optical astronomers - when used as a component in streetlights that give off less interfering light for telescopes.
Neon is very rare on Earth (despite the signs that are named after it) but is the fifth most common element in the Universe. Imagine the neon sign you could make with a nebula's worth of this noble gas!
Very rare in stars, Fluorine is another element that's quickly converted into other things. You've probably encountered it in your toothpaste as fluoride. Show off your toothy grin!
Oxygen, where would we be without it? Well, it'd be a lot like space, for a bit. Then we'd all be dead. Let's not let that happen. Molecular Oxygen is luckily abundant on Earth, but is very rare in space, having only been found for the first time in 2011.
A favourite element when chilled to a liquid and used to smash flowers and make ice cream, most of the Earth's atmosphere is Nitrogen.
Carbon, the basis of life on Earth, comes in many forms from the sought-after diamond to the super useful graphite.
Another rare one, Boron is skipped over in the element production line within stars. It's instead formed when cosmic rays impact other things (or other cosmic rays).
A rare element, when produced in stars Beryllium is quickly changed into something else. Because it's very light, but also very strong, Beryllium is used to make high performance mirrors for space telescopes like the Spitzer Space Telescope and the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope.
A main component in aptly named Lithium batteries, this element is the lightest metal on the periodic table, about half as dense as water. Half of the world's known Lithium is found in Bolivia.
It doesn't just make balloons float or our voices squeak, helium is the second most abundant element in the Universe and was produced along with hydrogen in the Big Bang.
Building block of the Universe, all the Hydrogen around the place was created in the Big Bang. Hydrogen is converted into other elements (up to Iron) as part of nuclear reactions in a star.
Voyager 1, space pioneer, furthest man-made object from Earth. This little space craft is fantastic, and so are you human! You smashed past 123,000 Recent Credits (RAC) today and we're all so impressed. We're applauding you at theSkyNet office right now.
Voyager 2 - launched before or after voyager 1, what do you think? Either way, it's going a little slower than number 1 so is hanging out past the planets and dwarfs we know about, but not quite at the edge. A fitting reward for reaching 102000 Recent Credits (RAC), we think. Well done!
Eris, otherwise known as the Pluto toppler. Its discovery by astronomers in 2005 started off the whole 'Pluto: is it really a planet?' thing. We're so glad, welcome to the Solar System, Eris. And hey, look at you with the 68,000 Recent Credits (RAC) today, amazing work!
It's a belt. Made out of rocks and icey things. Probably where comets come from. Yep, go the Kuiper belt! And go you! 50,000 Recent Credits (RAC) today, well done.
MakeMake, best name for a planet or what? This one is named from the Easter Island cultural tradition, because it was discovered around Easter time. Tenuous, but we like it! We like you too human, 45,800 Recent Credits (RAC) today. Thank you so much!
Haumea, little known dwarf planet out further than Pluto. We don't know much about you yet, but welcome to the Solar System family buddy! Welcome to the 43,100 Recent Credits (RAC) club to you too human!
Pluto. Don't feel sorry for it. Seriously. It doesn't care if it's a dwarf or not, it's busy hanging out with Charon, Nix, Hydra, Kerberos and Styx out in the far reaches of the Solar System. It's got time for high fives for you, though. 39,300 Recent Credits (RAC) today, congrats!
Neptune, windiest place in the Solar System. They should start a kite surfing business on the diamond ocean. We'd go visit, would you come too? 30,100 Recent Credits (RAC) cracked today, incredible work!
Butt of everyone's jokes - pun intended, groan away - Uranus is the not-so-little planet that got tipped on it's side back in the day. And it's made out of fart gasses. Don't laugh, it's unbecoming. 19,200 Recent Credits (RAC) today, great feat human, we're proud of you.
Saturn, the planet somebody liked enough to put a ring on, jewel of the planets, now in your trophy cabinet to admire. 9,600 Recent Credits (RAC) deserves a ring for sure.
King of the Solar System, almost-a-star Jupiter is now yours to display proudly. You deserve it - 5200 Recent Credits (RAC), that's awesome.
The asteroid belt, failed planet, source of meteorites, it's alright. You're alright too, human! 3000 Recent Credits (RAC) today, thank you for your contribution!
Ceres, the little dwarf planet that everyone forgets about because it's hanging out in the Asteroid belt. Was a planet that got downgraded long before that whole Pluto incident. Your reward for 2,770 Recent Credits (RAC) today, great job!
Woah nelly, you're steaming ahead! 1520 Recent Credits (RAC), amazing work. The iron-rich red planet joins your trophy cabinet for that achievement.
1000 Recent Credits (RAC)? You're unstoppable! Have some nice oceans, trees, wildlife and friendly humans as a prize. Ahh Earth, gotta love this place.
720 Recent Credit (RAC) today? Look at you go, well done! Your reward is Venus, in all its runaway-greenhouse, flesh-destroying acid-cloud glory. What better gift is there?
Congratulations! You've cracked over the '390 recent credits (RAC)' line, what an achievement. What's this you ask? Well it's your reward, the entire planet Mercury, just for you. Well, no, it's a hologram of Mercury, but this little planet is a power house. It orbits the Sun in a speedy 88 days.
On October 7th, 1959, Soviet probe Luna 3 returned the first ever images of the far side of the Moon, often called the 'Dark side of the Moon' even though it's sometimes fully in light. We can't see it from Earth because the Moon orbits the Earth in the same amount of time it takes to rotate, so we only ever view the one face. (Trophy suggested by Dingo).
Pie, delicious pie. We love pie. And Pi. And, well all the kinds of pi/pie.
After a long search, Pluto was first recognised in photographic plates at the US Lowell Observatory by astronomer Clyde Tombaugh on February 8th, 1930. The discovery of the (then) planet was announced in March of that year. Pluto was famously reclassified as a dwarf planet by the IAU in 2006, before it had even completed one orbit around the Sun since its discovery. (Trophy suggested by Dingo).
Fibonacci was a cool guy, we like to think he'd have been a member of theSkyNet were he still around.
On the 11th of July 1979, 16:37 UTC, NASA space station Skylab entered the atmosphere to mostly burn up safely - but some of Skylab's remnants landed south of Perth, Western Australia near a town called Esperance, who then fined NASA $400 for littering! (Trophy suggested by hokeyWB).
Comet Hale-Bopp went down in history in 1997 as the most visible comet, able to be seen by the naked eye for a whopping 18 months! It will makes its return to our vicinity (and hopefully visibility) in 4385 AD, pity none of us will be around to see it! (Trophy suggested by Petax).
In memory of the seven astronauts (Jarvis, McAuliffe, Mc Nair, Onizuka, Resnik, Scobee, and Smith) aboard Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986, and the seven astronauts (Anderson, Brown, Chawla, Clark, Husband, McCool, and Ramon) aboard Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003. (Trophy suggested by shuckie).
Photons travel in a vacuum at 299,792,458 metres per second, or 299,793 kilometres per second (rounded) (because we want more people to win the trophy!) They travel about 88 km/s slower in air than in a vacuum. Darn air molecules slowing down our light!
Thank you for contributing to theSkyNet, it's great to have you on board.