# All Questions

1answer
91 views

### What's special about Saturn that it has distinctive rings?

This may overlap with other questions, but I'm asking what is unique about Saturn in location, properties, etc that is has far more pronounced rings? It's between Jupiter and Uranus and Neptune in ...
1answer
132 views

### The tidal locking problem concerning Earth sized planets in habitable zone around Red Dwarfs

Would twin planets orbiting around each other present a solution to tidal locking of habitable planets in red dwarf systems? It's an awfully easy equation to set up. I'm fibbing; I can't do it. I was ...
2answers
69 views

1answer
69 views

### What is the process for vetting the 4,175 candidate planets Kepler has discovered?

In the National Geographic article about NASA's announcement of new planets discovered by the Kepler spacecraft, it states that there are 4,175 candidate planets. What is the process for vetting these ...
1answer
58 views

### Origin of the original bright light and matter [closed]

Do any theories exist as to where this bright light and matter came from that expanded to form our Universe ?
1answer
84 views

### Are a black hole's jets caused by the black hole's magnetic field?

Do the jets sometimes emitted by a black hole result from its magnetic field? It would seem Jupiter's magnetic field tends to be concentrated at the poles, and I would imagine this might extend to ...
1answer
80 views

### Is there a strong galactic magnetic field?

My main question is: Is there a strong galactic magnetic field, perhaps driven by the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy? I am also wondering if this field would be strong enough to ...
4answers
506 views

### Can magnetism escape a black hole?

I know light, and practically nothing but gravity can escape a black hole. My question is: can magnetism escape a black hole? A couple things that convince me it can are: Jupiter's magnetic ...
2answers
143 views

### Are there equations to simulate creation of a solar system?

I've been wanting to create a simulator to run tests based on properties of a star to find patterns in how planets form. Are there any already made equations for any of these countless relationships? ...
1answer
53 views

### How do astronomers choose their research topic? [closed]

Astronomers don't face much of an ordinary jobs market in their "trade". What does the process look like from choosing a topic for the PhD to doing research in a specific topic? Let's say that you're ...
1answer
109 views

### Why stars are named Gliese?

There are exoplanets called Gliese 581c, Gliese 581d etc. I assume their star is Gliese 581. So where does this Gliese come from?
2answers
82 views

### Meteorites bring water

The latest information suggests that Earth's water came from Meteorites . The Moon was also bombarded by Meteorites and yet it has no water. Is this because it lacks an atmosphere and its water was ...
1answer
23 views

### US observations relevant in UK?

When I listen to the Planetary Radio podcast, there is a section at the end where they suggest objects to look out for in the night sky. If I am in the UK, but they are talking about the USA, will I ...
2answers
98 views

### How do or could radio telescopes contribute to exoplanet studies?

Current and upcoming telescopes which find exoplanets and take spectra of their atmospheres seem to be optical or infrared. What about radio telescopes applied to exoplanets? They are larger and more ...
2answers
152 views

### Tide on the Moon

If the Earth's Moon had a water ocean of depth 2-4 Km, how high would the tides rise due to the Earth's gravity? (Just a hypothetical question.)
4answers
356 views

### Do Roche limits apply to black holes?

Consider black hole A, a super massive black hole at the center of the galaxy. Orbiting it is black hold B, a less massive black hole. If some passing body were to modify black hole B's orbit such ...
2answers
89 views

### Near-future astronomic events that could threaten Earth

What kinds of astronomical events can pose a serious threat to life on Earth in the near future (1000-10,000 years). If there are none in the near future, when is the soonest event that is predicted ...
1answer
85 views

### Collision of two Earths

Assume that two Earth-like planets orbited the same star, with elliptic orbits. Eventually, something occurs that caused the two planets to collide. What would be the outcome of such a catastrophe? ...
1answer
47 views

### How can I predict space directions?

Did the Neptune and Pluto trajectories ever cross or was it a mere reclassification? Do studies say that I can predict an intersection between 2 trajectories or movements based on data now? Do I have ...
2answers
231 views

### If an asteroid twice the size of Earth passed super close would half of the Earth be pulled towards it?

So let's say that an asteroid the twice the size of Earth passed by going relatively slow say in between the Moon and Earth. Among so many other things (and perhaps you can touch on some of the ...
0answers
56 views

### Does CIBER Experiment from Caltech suggest that there can be lots of stars which are not in any galaxy?

My question is about the implications of the observations recently made by the Cosmic Infrared Background Experiment, or CIBER, from Caltech. I've read at Caltech web site: "The total light ...
3answers
2k views

### Why is the Eagle Nebula so “static”?

This, of course, is a newbie question, as I am nothing more than a hobbyist. But I was quite surprised to see the recently-released "before and after" pictures of the so-called "Pillars of Creation" ...
1answer
118 views

### Ramifications of black hole stellar system

Recently, I got around to seeing the movie Interstellar. In it, the characters of the movie visit a stellar system that appears to be built around a black hole instead of a star. On top of this, their ...
1answer
44 views

### Wher can I find a list of blueshifted regions in the Milky Way?

It would be nice to get a relation between the blueshifted regions and the distance to earth. I'm searching especially for objects in other galactic arms.
1answer
183 views

### As days get longer, why isn't the added daylight split evenly between sunrise and sunset?

I have a basic understanding of the sinusoidal relationship of the rate of change of daylight as the year goes on. But it seems intuitive that the changes should be equally split between sunrise and ...

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