‘The star Betelgeuse [aka Beetlejuice] is fascinating. It’s one of the most obvious things in the sky, because it’s very red and very bright. It’s the top left-hand star in the constellation of Orion. It’s red because it’s a sun at the end of its life – it’s enormous, and would fi ll most of our solar system if you put it where the Sun is.
We think it’s about to explode soon – well, at some point in the next 100,000 years. If it does, it will be a remarkable sight because it will shine like a second sun.’
PROFESSOR BRIAN COX [ AS TOLD TO RADIO TIMES ]
SPACE ODDITIES
In 1902 Georges Méliès conceived what is considered to be the fi rst sci-fi fi lm – the 14-minute-long Le Voyage Dans La Lune, which depicted a rocket crashing into the moon’s eye. Ever since, the genre has inspired ever-expanding fl ights of camp lunacy, including 1968’s Barbarella starring Jane Fonda, and 1980’s Flash Gordon – scored by Queen and starring the peerless Brian Blessed. Geek out with the latest intergalactic news at top sci-fi blog, io9.com
LOOK INTO THE LIGHT
The creator of the amazing image on this page is Paris-based photographer and artist Seb Janiak, known for his striking shots of abstract light and use of multiple layers of photographs to give a hyperreal look. Janiak also shoots shining stars of a diff erent kind – check out his remarkable pictures of an ultra-glossy Naomi Campbell at sebjaniak.com. To see more of his work, head to the Visionairs Gallery in Paris where Janiak will be exhibiting from September. visionairsgallery.com