# All Questions

48 views

### Why Earth's perihelion occurs 3rd January rather than 1st?

Why Earth's perihelion occurs 3rd January rather than 1st January? Is there any effort to correct this discrepancy?
29 views

### Is there a theoretical limit on telescope's resolution?

Is there a theoretical limit on what we can see with a telescope of fixed size based on Earth's orbit or the Moon, that is in Earth's region of Solar system outside the Earth's atmosphere? Why not ...
24 views

### Does cosmological horizon grow or decrease as it radiates?

Black holes decrease as they evaporate and their radius decreases as well. So what is with a cosmological horizon? If cosmological horizon is just a black hole centered at the opposite side of the ...
934 views

### Would an exoplanet without axial tilt have no seasons?

Would an Earth analog exoplanet which rotates around a solar analog, but without axial tilt, have no seasons? Would it be similar to how Los Angeles does not have very noticeable seasons compared to ...
16 views

### What is the furthest object from which fermion rays were detected?

What is the furthest object from which non-electromagnetic cosmic rays were detected?
29 views

### What day/night cycles, climate and seasons would experience Alpha Centauri Bb inhabitants?

Alpha Centauri Bb is an exoplanet orbiting Alpha Centauri B. It is asserted that given the close distance to the star the planet should be tidally locked. The orbiting period of the planet is about ...
49 views

### Is it possible that only one hemisphere of a planet has an atmosphere?

Suppose there is a tidally locked planet orbiting a star. The planet's surface consists of a global ocean, that is, liquid water. At the inner hemisphere the temperature is so high that the water is ...
24 views

### How can astronomers determine the difference between “hydrostatic equilibruim” and “just happens to be spherical”?

This is relevant for the definition of a dwarf planet. I presume the answer will be, well, if we can tell the mass of the body and guess the material. I don't find this very satisfactory because ...
50 views

### The furthest horizon in the Solar system

Where can I observe the furthest horizon in the Solar system ? And what the length of it ? The furthest horizon on Earth can be observed from mount Everest ~ 336 km, On Mars - from mount Olympus ~ 386 ...
52 views

### What is the danger for Ceres of collision with other asteroids?

In the context of possible colonization of Ceres, would not such colony be totally impossible because of high probability of collision of Ceres with other asteroids in the Asteroid Belt?
84 views

### Could we actually freeze a star?

I read an article recently that said NASA has discovered a brown dwarf that has frozen. Given we had the technology, resources, and supplies, could we actually freeze a star and stop it from burning ...
43 views

### Can a person at a photon sphere of a black hole decide where the black hole is?

A person at the photon sphere of a black hole will observe the following: The black hole surface will cover exactly half of the visible sky (say, the left half), and cosmic horizon will cover the ...
54 views

### Age of the universe and age of stars

The age of the universe is 13.798±0.037 billion years, yet the age of HD 140283 is 14.46±0.8 billion years, how this can be the case?
637 views

### What causes the dimensions of a star increase when its hydrogen fuel is exhausted?

What causes the dimensions of a star increase when its hydrogen fuel is exhausted? For example, the Sun is expected to increase its radius 250 times. What causes this if its temperature is expected to ...
75 views

### How would we detect a planet behind the Sun?

Let's assume hypothetically that Earth has a twin planet on the opposite side of Earth's orbit. Its orbital period would be exactly the same as Earth's and it would always be behind the Sun so ...
180 views

### Do black holes have energy?

So black holes are created by certain dying stars and when the star runs out of nuclear energy gravity wins out and the star implodes. An entire star’s mass collapses down into a smaller and smaller ...
48 views

### Is there a lower limit for the altitude of orbiting objects?

As I understand it, one object can orbit another at a variety of altitudes, and the stability of the orbit is determined by (among other things) the speed of the orbiting object. Go too slowly and ...
43 views

### Is it possible to see a moonrise or moonset twice in a day?

I've been wondering this for quite some time. Due to the variations in tilt from the earth we know that moonrise/moonset times vary. Is it possible that in any location on the earth one might see ...
94 views

### How to leave the Universe

If the Universe is flat and expanding at the speed of light, that must mean that we could never leave it, because one would have to travel faster than the speed of light which is not possible. ...
42 views

### What happens if two galaxies collide very quickly?

What would happen if two galaxies collided very quickly (e.g. at near the speed of light)? Would they mostly just pass through eachother unscathed, or would there be very energetic collisions that ...
21 views

### What is the current size of the SN1006 supernova remnant?

I was enamored by the wikipedia article of SN1006. Esp. the fact that it was so bright, it could cast shadows on the ground. (Even this idea that you could have possibly read parchment with just the ...
40 views

### Venus started with retrograde rotation? [duplicate]

I have heard that when our solar system formed that all planets except Venus were revolving around the sun in the same direction because of the normal rotation of their axes. Venus was rotating and ...
716 views

### How big would the asteroid belt planet be?

As I understand it, the asteroid belt exists because the gravitational force of Jupiter prevents the asteroids from accreting (is that a word?) into a planet. If, however, Jupiter didn't exist and ...
50 views

### why quantum gravity doesnot exist?

I am not an astrophysicist and not its student.All my knowledge about astronomy comes from you tube videos and discovery channel.From them i knew that to solve the mysteries of black hole both ...
19 views

### Does the radius of the Universe correspond to its total entropy?

I heard a claim that due to holographic principle, the surface area of the cosmic horizon corresponds to the universe's total entropy. As such the initial state had zero surface area and later ...
25 views

### When the set of official dwarf planets is expected to increase?

When the set of official dwarf planets is expected to increase or new bodies considered for inclusion?
22 views

I was looking for accurate and up-to-date data regarding the advancement of the perihelion of the planets in the Solar System, the only ones I've found so far are at least 90 years old bout I really ...
16 views

### Matter and Antimatter Interaction in the early Universe

Well it is said that during the Big Bang, things were created in pairs: one matter and one anti-matter. I think its a part of the Big-Bang Theory. It is also said that matter + anti-matter - Energy ...
42 views

### Apocalypse on earth

What would it feel like on Earth if the Earth accelerated due to sudden changes in the solar system like ejection of another planet? Would there be giant tidal waves and other cataclysmic events?
289 views

### What scientific evidence is there to support or refute the Iron Sun Hypothesis?

Professor Oliver Manuel, a professor of nuclear chemistry at the University of Missouri-Rolla, claims in the article Sun Is Made Of Iron, Not Hydrogen, Professor Says that iron, not hydrogen, is ...
59 views

### Does the sky get darker faster during the winter?

When one lives away from the equator, say at around 37° latitude, does the sky get darker faster after the sun sets in the winter as compared to the summer? Why is this the case? I believe that if ...
35 views

### Can matter leave the cosmic horizon?

Cosmic horizon in the de Sitter space is a sphere, centered at the observer with finite radius where the red shift due to cosmic expansion becomes infinite. Given that no information can be ...
16 views

### Observed sun/moon rise/set times to nearest second?

Where can I find a list of observed (not computed) sun/moon rise/set times to the nearest second, along with the location (latitude, longitude, altitude [or enough information to find these three ...
11 views

### When do Mercury/Venus reach greatest elevation at sunset/twilight for a given location?

On what day does Mercury reach its greatest elevation (in degrees from the horizon) at sunset a given location? The obvious answer is the day of Mercury's greatest elongation from the Sun, but, ...
47 views

### Brain vs galaxy [closed]

The number of neurons in the human brain is equated with the number of stars in the Milky Way. Could the Milky Way act as a consciousness of its own, with the gravitational strength between the stars ...
1k views

### Is Pluto still a dwarf planet?

Recent news seem to suggest that astronomers are arguing about whether Pluto should become a planet again. However, I cannot find an official source for this. Is this actually true?
214 views

### Age of the universe and time dilation

Given our knowledge and the standard cosmological model, we estimate that the age of the universe is about 13.7 billion years old. How much sense does it make to talk about the age of the ...
57 views

### Is there any way a meteor can hit at less than escape velocity?

Note: I have figured out one case: The meteor is splash from an impact on a close-in moon. I'm looking for any path from deep space. My understanding is that anything from deep space will ...
42 views

### Accretion of in-falling material for a young main sequence star

I'm reading material that is seemingly contradictory. Some sources indicate that the evolution of a protostar to a main sequence star is characterised by a stellar wind that precludes the accretion ...
58 views

### Is Zeta Reticuli within the Orion Arm?

My research has told me astronomers have labeled the galaxy arm that our system is located the Orion Arm but I have yet to find out if that also applies to Zeta Reticuli or not (not asking about ...
511 views

### Where does the solar system end?

This is a question I've heard many times in the past, and a quick search of the site says it hasn't been asked here, so I figured I might as well ask (and answer) it. I know that it is rare for ...
67 views

### If the expansion of the universe is speeding up, how long until everything nears the speed of light, and what would happen?

Since dark energy is causing everything to speed up infinitely, wouldn't everything near the speed of light? And since it's nearing the speed of light, wouldn't all kinds of strange things start ...
139 views

### Can we see individual stars in other galaxies?

Just wondering if we can examine individual stars from other galaxies, or if we are pretty much stuck with the billions that are in the Milky Way?
43 views

### What is it like at the edge of the universe? [duplicate]

If the universe is expanding, then if you were to be close to the edge of that expansion, what would it look like? What would be happening? Would it be chaotic? Would objects be appearing or ...
55 views

### Why can't the surfaces of stars be observed?

If I'm correctly informed, only three stars: Sol, Betelgeuse and Altair have surfaces which have been resolved by telescopes. All other stars are only point sources of light, even in the greatest of ...
32 views

### How could we observe Dyson spheres? [duplicate]

Hypothetically, if Dyson spheres were already present, how could we observe them? My layman understanding of the reason we believe dark matter exists is that our current estimates of the total mass of ...
108 views

### What current evidence is there that disproves the Big Bang Theory? [closed]

The Big Bang Theory has been described as follows: "Somewhere between 10 and 20 billion years ago, (this number of years has changed many times) all of the matter in the universe was compressed ...
73 views

### Composition of planets' core

It is often possible to find a list of the materials that compose the cores and the mantle of plantes (often they are iron and/or nickel). How can these materials be determined in our Solar system? ...