All Questions

57 views

What's the difference between the apparent horizon and event horizon of a black hole?

The Wikipedia page for apparent horizon is pretty sketchy and requires some GR knowledge. Is there any simple definition?
43 views

How does the appearance of the analemma vary with latitude

How does the appearance of an analemma vary with latitude? This what I take to be a definition of an analemma: If the position of the sun is plotted or photographed at noon clock time (say UTC) every ...
81 views

infinite Universe [duplicate]

I was watching a documentary and they said that Cosmologists have determined that the Universe is infinite. I find this to contradict the expansion theory. If the Universe had a starting point then ...
46 views

Why does spectral class and U-V colour correlate slightly differently for main sequence, giant and supergiant stars?

In this diagram the $x$-axis is spectral type for stars and the $y$-axis is B-V colour. Taking Series 1 as the Main Sequence, Series 2 as Giants and Series 3 as Super-giants. Why the spectral class ...
268 views

Star like light moving in the sky, what could it be?

I was camping this weekend away from the city, so my friends and I decided to spend one of the nights watching the sky, since it's impossible to see anything around where we live. After a little ...
38 views

Has the most luminous object in the universe been found?

It's hard to search through the entire (observable) universe, but the most luminous thing there is must on the other hand be easy to find. Can we now say that the most luminous quasar we know, is the ...
114 views

What you would see in a wormhole?

Science fiction seems to depict the experience of traveling through wormholes (if possible of course) as seeing psychedelic colors or lines of light where stars once were (ie. 2001 or Contact). I ...
100 views

Is the mechanism of solar flares on red dwarfs and brown dwarfs the same as that on the Sun?

The Sun has solar flares that are caused when there is a magnetic reconnection in the Sun's atmosphere, causing a loop of magnetic field to be ejected at high energy, along with a large number of ...
27 views

Diameter of Astronomical Object Using Magnification

I took a picture of Jupiter through my telescope, using an iPhone. I know the magnification of the telescope lens I used, and can Google to get the magnification of the iPhone lens (the magnification ...
4k views

Is there any planet/star bigger than VY Canis Majoris?

Compared to VY Canis Majoris, our Sun is more like a speck of space dust. Is there any planet or star which is known to us that is bigger than the VY Canis Majoris?
26 views

Extra dimensions [closed]

String theory, Kaluza Klein theory etc. need extra-dimensions. For string theory these are compactified. My feeling is that these extra dimensions are not of our 4-D space, but are only of the space ...
73 views

When is Gamma Draconis closest to the zenith in London on April 4th

I am reading Roobert Hooke's paper An attempt to prove the motion of the earth from observations (1674, faksimile). Hooke writes The principal dayes of doing which will be about the 4 of April, ...
63 views

How do rogue planets orbit around stars in other planetary systems?

I got some interesting answers for What would happen if a rogue planet hit one of the planets in our Solar System? But I have seen some documentaries that state that rogue planets from other ...
33 views

can we use connect a long pipe with space station and use vacuum for fuel transfer? [on hold]

We all know that we need a lot of fuel to escape from earth. Even 90% fuel of an spaceship is wasted in escaping the earth which definitely affect our power to explore the universe. we have to do a ...
33 views

What places on Pluto and Charon are facing each other?

What places on Pluto and Charon are facing each other? Are Pluto and Charon perfectly tidally locked, or is there a slow rotation over time? And how long after formation should they have become ...
49 views

What is the bulk Lorentz factor?

When we are talking about relativistic motions, say from a relativistic jet, what is meant by the term "bulk Lorentz factor", and the bulk speed, $\beta$?
48 views

Luminosity of black hole accretion disc

The luminosity of a black hole accretion disc gaining mass at a rate $dM\over dt$ can be estimated as ${1\over 12}{dM\over dt}c^2$ That is a substantial proportion of the rest mass of the in-falling ...
196 views

What are the azimuths of the planets' orbits?

I am creating a virtual solar system model and I want it to be as realistic as possible (e.g. orbits are ellipses, not circles, and orbits are oriented correctly, not all coplanar). In order for me ...
104 views

If the Universe is infinite, would heat death be impossible?

If the Universe is infinite, one would imagine that if we kept moving through space, we'd constantly find newer and newer galaxies and objects forever. This would imply that there is an infinite ...
66 views

What are the stars/constellations a beginner/enthusiast can easily identify?

I was just wondering what are some of the stars, constellations or any other things that one can just identify by looking up at the night sky. For example, when ever i look up, I immediately see ...
21 views

Conversion of magnitudes to Jansky and MAGPHYS?

I'm a bit puzzled and not an observer, so please bear with me if I'm being stupid here. The code MAGPHYS specifies Jansky (Jy) as the input unit for flux through ...
52 views

Are objects in the universe moving away from each other at the same acceleration?

This is a follow up question to Does the universe expand at the same rate everywhere in the universe?. If the universe is expanding, then it would seem necessary for each object (ie galaxy) to be ...
114 views

Could a star revolve around a planet? [duplicate]

They actually do, but let's set Relativity aside for a moment. And the whole barycenter thing too. Here's the scenario: Somewhere in the backwaters of a galaxy there is this huge planet. It is NOT a ...
52 views

Is there an upper limit to the mass of terrestrial planets

The exo-planet Kepler-10c has a mass between 15 and 19 times the mass of the Earth (making it comparable in mass to Neptune), and yet is thought to have a density of about 7g/cm^3 and to be a ...
61 views

Is it plausible that Mars could have been one of Jupiter's natural satellites at one time?

Would more questions regarding the planet be answered if this was the case?
37 views

Divide a star catalogue to optimize star search

I'm continue working on my Planetarium software and I have a doubt. At this moment my star catalogue is very small, but I'm planning to use a bigger one. To optimize the search inside this catalogue ...
92 views

How small a star can provide Sun-level illumination to its planets?

...or how small can a solar system be, to sustain an Earth-like planet? Sun is not really small, and 1AU is pretty far when you look at orbital radii of exoplanets and size of their stars. How small ...
17 views

Formation of a magnetosphere for gas giants / small stars

This question got me thinking about this. Jupiter has, and presumably super-Jupiters can have a strong magnetospheres. A solid metallic core and rotating material around the core, creates a magnetic ...
26 views

Age of Occator Crater

Has any official information been published regarding the estimated age of the Occator crater on Ceres? I ran some quick searches but couldn't find anything putting a definitive (or even speculative) ...
125 views

Is there any hard evidence that rogue planets exist?

A rogue planet (or a rogue anything, for that matter: a celestial body other than a star) is something that's drifting through space without being attached by gravity to any star. They're just out ...
2k views

Is Earth unique in its fairly clear atmosphere?

So, we have surface pictures from two alien planets, Venus (captured by the Venera 13), and Mars (captured by the rover). Both of these pictures appear to be very dusty. For Venus we see strong ...
30 views

What are the best candidates for solar lensing of exoplanets, and what would the results be?

If we were able to send a probe to 550AU from the Sun, which exoplanets could be examined, to what resolution, and what form would the examination take? It is radio telescopy only, or would it be ...
50 views

How do we know which elements are in a galaxy spectra?

I know that each element has it's own distinct spectra (this is a good site that lists them: Periodic Table) but when looking at a spectra of a galaxy (or even a star) how do we match those elements ...
147 views

Can we have a second moon?

This question sounds like silly and rather fantasy filled. But can our earth's gravity capture a sizable asteroid and make it rotate around our earth like our moon which become visible from ground. Is ...
44 views

This article from 2011 mentions simulations about the sputtering effect caused by a solar flare hitting the Moon: "We found that when this massive cloud of plasma strikes the moon, it acts like ...
163 views

Why does Earth have more gravitational force than the Moon if I stand on it?

Perhaps this is a silly question but I am trying to understand Einstein's general theory of relativity. I would like to explain my question in more detail. The greater the mass of an object, the ...
129 views

Notable differences if all stars would disappear except the Sun

I am not an astronomy expert, but as of today, all other stars than the Sun have little to no effect on life on Earth. So I was thinking, would there be any differences for the Earth at all if all ...
46 views

Is the size and heat of a star important in the development of a solar system?

How do the size and heat of stars affect development of solar systems and what kinds of planets can develop? Is it possible to orbit supermassive stars? Furthermore, would star's unleashing violent ...
13 views

Utilization of data from satellites mantained by India [migrated]

What are the prerequisites to utilize the data from 'astrosat' or 'mangalyaan'. My aim is to check how useful the data generated by an Indian scopes are? I could not make any sense in the catalogs.
42 views

What is Color Index?

I found this Wikipedia page on this property called color index. Unfortunately, I could not find a source that explains this property well. My interpretation is that color index is the brightness ...
98 views

How do I get from Star Atlas to real life?

This question is about finding the elevation and bearing of a given star at a particular time at Latitude 52N. I look up the RA and Declination of my star. How do I calculate its bearing and ...
32 views

Equation to find distance between objective and eyepiece

I have a home made astronomical telescope with 100 cm objective lens and 5 cm eyepiece.when viewing an object in infinity the distance between eyepiece and objective is 105 cm. So how could I ...
108 views

Visibility of human activity on the moon

In this video the host of Test Tube Plus states that you can go out a buy a laser, point it at the moon, and see the retroreflector left by the astronauts. When you point at the right spot you'll ...
153 views

How Are Radioactive Decay Rates Influenced by Neutrinos - On Earth and Other Dense Planets

I read a science report recently that mentioned an accidental discovery where radioactive decay rates shifted slightly slower in advance ( about a day and a half) of solar storms or in sync with sun's ...
90 views

Method to determine the amount of reflected starlight necessary for an exoplanet to be visible from a given distance/angle?

What is the method to determine the amount of reflected starlight necessary for an exoplanet to be visible from a given distance/angle? (Not from occlusion but actually visible on its own.) Further, ...
121 views

Can a gas moon exist?

Could a gaseous moon exist in the same way as a giant gas planet? All the moons in the solar system are rocky, or icy. Why shouldn't gas planets have gas moons?
64 views

Why some stars appear to move differently when viewing device shakes

I was looking at Arcturus with a pair of binoculars, and noticed that when they vibrate due to my heartbeat, Arcturus seemed to move differently than the other dimmer stars. I started playing with ...
46 views

Does the Sun orbit the Milky way in a (kind of) flat or inclined orbit or more of a sine wave? [duplicate]

I know it can't be a perfect ellipse or smooth orbit due to all the matter in every direction, and our Sun could be affected by a gravity assist of sorts if it passes close enough to another massive ...