News tagged with luminosity

The Cosmic Distance Scale

(PhysOrg.com) -- In 1908, Harvard astronomer Henrietta Swan Leavitt discovered that a class of stars called Cepheids have brightnesses that vary regularly with periods that are directly related to their intrinsic ...

Jan 29, 2010 4.6 / 5 (19) 0 | with audio podcast

Supernovae mystery solved

(PhysOrg.com) -- Supernovae are gigantic stellar explosions that can be seen across the entire universe. Type Ia supernovae are a relatively homogeneous class of stellar explosions, which researchers use as ...

Jun 30, 2010 4.5 / 5 (14) 6 | with audio podcast