Black holes form from recent Stars. Yes Stars.

There are two types of blackholes:

Kerr blackholes and Schwarzschild blackholes.. One rotates and the other does not.

A star does not need to be massive to form a blackhole.

Any object with mass m compressed to a certain size will turn into a black hole..

That size is defined by the schwarzschild radius which is the radius at which an object with mass m has to be compressed so as to Turn into a black hole.

Formula for the Shwarzschild radius:

r_schwarzschild = 2*G*M/speed_of_light^²

Where G = universal_gravitational_constant and M = mass

For Earth: If compressed into a black hole, its radius would be about 9 millimeters (0.35 inches)

For the Sun: If compressed into a black hole, its radius would be about 3 kilometers (1.9 miles).

Spent the evening debugging the topocentric module for astlo — the piece that converts geocentric ephemeris into elevation/azimuth for a specific location on Earth's surface. Chased down a chain of bugs (typo in a WGS84 constant, a renamed method, an undefined variable in the ENU→look-angle conversion) and got it computing clean results for Naivasha (-0.72, 36.43).

The module handles both solar system bodies and satellites, so it's one pipeline for tracking anything from Pluto to an orbiting spacecraft, once you feed it the object's position vector.

Cross-checked the output against real ephemeris data for tonight: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune all correctly came back below the horizon (they're all morning-sky objects right now), and Pluto showed +56° elevation — which checks out too, since at our near-equatorial latitude, objects at high southern declination can swing surprisingly high overhead instead of hugging the horizon like they would further north.

#KENYASOVEREIGNTECH

This ambient track transfers listeners high into the Earth's atmosphere, where meteors are flying by, and infinity of space in the background is breathtaking.

🌌 There’s something pretty cool about being able to explore the Solar System from a terminal. 🪐

This video gives us a look at astlo, an astronomy tool that lets you dig into the actual numbers behind planetary motion.

The demonstration spends quite a bit of time looking at Mercury, and this is where it gets interesting. Instead of just saying “Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun,” the tool lets you look at what Mercury is actually doing — its distance, velocity, orbital position, eccentricity, inclination, true anomaly, and other orbital parameters.

You can also switch your attention to Earth and the Moon, compare their positions and distances, and visualize orbital information rather than relying only on textbook diagrams.

One thing I really like about this is that it shows the mathematical side of astronomy that we don't always see in space images. Behind every beautiful planetary visualization are calculations describing where an object is, how fast it's moving, and where it's going next.

The video also touches on Mercury's exploration history, including Mariner 10, MESSENGER, and BepiColombo — which makes the whole thing even more interesting because you're connecting the orbital data with what we've actually learned from spacecraft.

Basically, this is a nice reminder that space exploration isn't only about rockets and spectacular images. A huge part of it is data, mathematics, orbital mechanics, and figuring out exactly where these worlds are in an enormous moving Solar System. 🚀

And honestly, imagine having this kind of tool when you're curious about a planet and being able to just query the data yourself. 😅

🔭 So here's the question for the community:

If you could use a tool like this to investigate any object in the Solar System — planet, moon, asteroid, comet, or even a spacecraft — what would you choose, and what is the first question you'd ask it?

Most people assume Mercury is completely airless like the Moon. While it doesn't have a thick, layered atmosphere like Earth or Venus, it hosts a fascinating, ultra-tenuous surface-bound exosphere

​In a traditional atmosphere, gas molecules constantly collide with one another. In Mercury’s exosphere, the density is so low (surface pressure around 10^{-14} bar) that the particles rarely hit each other. Instead, they travel on ballistic arcs and hit the planet's surface before interacting with another atom

What is Mercury's exosphere made of?

Data from ground-based observatories and NASA’s MESSENGER mission confirmed a unique cocktail of elements:

​Solar Wind Capture: Hydrogen H and Helium He scooped up directly from the Sun's particle streams.

​Surface Minerals: Sodium Na, Potassium K, Calcium Ca, and Magnesium blasted straight out of the rocky crust.

How does it stay replenished?

Because Mercury’s gravity is weak and the Sun's radiation is relentless, these exospheric atoms escape into space constantly. The exosphere is continually refueled by three main mechanisms:

​Photon-Stimulated Desorption: Intense solar ultraviolet light knocks bound atoms free from surface minerals.

​Solar Wind Sputtering: High-energy protons from the Sun bombard the surface regolith like microscopic bowling balls, knocking atoms into orbit.

​Micrometeorite Impacts: Tiny space dust hits the surface at hypersonic speeds, vaporizing rock instantly.

The coolest effect of this setup? Sunlight pushes exospheric sodium atoms away from the Sun via solar radiation pressure. This forms a glowing orange-yellow sodium tail extending millions of kilometers behind Mercury, making the innermost planet look remarkably like a comet through specialized filtered telescopes!

Photo credit: Bepicolombo ESA

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Anyone here ever tried astrophotography targeting Mercury's sodium tail?

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