Word: interstellar
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...stars was totally devoid of any kind of matter. But in the past few decades, they have been forced to change their minds. Besides confirming the presence of hydrogen and other earthly elements with optical and radio telescopes, astronomers have lately discovered a number of complex molecules in interstellar space: water, ammonia, formaldehyde and pairs of hydrogen and oxygen atoms that are ingredients of many other chemical combinations. Now the list has been further expanded. Researchers at the Bell Telephone Labs have detected large quantities of carbon monoxide in vast clouds of gas and dust in the Milky...
...study of interstellar matter-an emerging branch of astronomy called astrochemistry-is dependent on a fundamental property of molecules. When they are bombarded by radiation from the stars, they respond in a precise and predictable way: they radiate electromagnetic waves at characteristic frequencies. Detected by radio telescopes, these waves are the "fingerprints" that scientists use to identify interstellar molecules. Carbon-monoxide molecules, for example, radiate at an incredible 115 billion hertz (115 billion cycles...
...seemed that the Galactic Empire was dead. All the mystery and excitement had gone, and the drooling Monarchs of a Million Worlds, the supple imperial concubines, the hard-faced conquerors that we read about in the magazines were just going through the motions. Science-fiction turned away from interstellar pageantry and began investigating psychological and sociological themes...
Robert J. Davis '51, associate of the Harvard College Observatory and director and designer of the orbiting telescope called Project Celescope, said he has reached two important conclusions from the data analyzed so far. He discovered that "Diffuse nebulae-large interstellar hydrogen gas clouds in which stars are formed-are brighter than we can easily explain...
...space traveler should fail to wonder at this phenomenon on what he supposes to be an alien planet. But Heston expresses no amazement at his ability to communicate with his captors, and while screenwriters Rod Serling and Michael Wilson can rely on the existence of other movies in which interstellar strangers speak the same tongue, the flaw is no less glaring for its ability to elude the audience...