# All Questions

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### What's the difference between the Julian and the Julian Ephemeris Day?

I'm making a code where I calculate the sun position in a given time. But I also want to learn astronomy with it. I'm following a .pdf to make the program, and in this .pdf it says The Julian Day ...
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### What is the term for the point between a star and planet where a 3rd object will cast the largest shadow on the planet?

Is there a particular orbital configuration that would allow an object to orbit a planet while casting a stable shadow on a planet in said position? I would also be interested to know if there is a ...
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### Is the moon moving further away from Earth and closer to the Sun? Why?

According to The NASA Moon Facts page: The moon is actually moving away from earth at a rate of 1.5 inches per year. Why is the moon moving further away from the Earth? Is this a result of the ...
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### accuracy of an artificial satellite at certain magnitude

When we say that 'accuracy of gaia satellite is 10 $\mu$as at $V = 10$ magnitude in position and annual proper motion'. What does this mean. Does it change over time.
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### Do magnetic fields affect planetary rings?

Planetary rings seem to generally form on the ecliptic plane because of the rotation of the planet, but I was wondering what kind of effect the magnetic field of the planet might have on the ring ...
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### Do all stars have an oort cloud or is it a rare occurance?

Do all stars have an oort cloud like ours that will be filled with comets and other objects? If not, why are they not around every star?
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### Equation for solar radiation at a given latitude on a given exoplanet?

I'm trying to find equations that would help me determine the amount of solar radiation hitting a certain latitude on a certain planet given the following inputs: the degrees of latitude of the ...
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### How long is the moon full

Is the moon the most full only for one moment As stated here and here Or does if stay the same full for a longer period of time (maybe because, the sun is grater then it, and light spreads out) ...
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### How many observations does it take to determine the orbit of a TNO

Several observations of a distant solar object must be taken before determining its orbit, but in the case of objects discovered beyond Neptune's orbit, just how many are required over what period of ...
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### Could spy satellites use laser guide stars (for adaptive optics)?

Are sodium lasers useful for Earth observing space telescopes/spy satellites?
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### Does Pluto have impact craters?

I've heard from a lot of sources that Pluto doesn't seem to have any impact craters, but I see a few things that look like impact craters, highlighted in this picture: For comparison, here's ...
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### Can a astronomical telescope view objects on Earth

I am new to telescopes, and planning to buy an astronomical telescopes like "Celestron AstroMaster 114 EQ Reflector". Just curious to know that whether it can be used to view objects on earth ...
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### What is space temperature around Earth?

What is the equilibrium temperature that a black body will reach at the Earth's distance from Sun?
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### How do I remove fungus from a telescope mirror?

I use a Celestron NexStar 130SLT Azimuthal Newtonian Reflector. I noticed that recently, due to the wet season, some tiny spots of what appears to be fungus have appeared. Having taking appropriate ...
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### How many galaxies are there in the Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall?

The Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall is "to date (February 16, 2015), it is the largest and the most massive structure known in the observable universe" (source). How many galaxies is the ...
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### What uncertainty does an error bar signify in astronomy?

When an astronomer talks about her/his topic and shows an X/Y-plot with error bars. What should one assume that those error bars represent? 1 standard deviation? Or 2? Or some specific significance ...
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### Eternally collapsing objects?

As has been pointed out by some scientists, that black holes aren't stable bodies but are eternally collapsing objects. How does one come to such a conclusion? Is hawking radiation related to this in ...
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### Available energy for potential life on Titan

There is an interesting discussion about whether there could be life on Saturn's moon Titan. (For example here.) The life could use reaction of hydrogen and acetylene which are being produced by ...
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### Does the shape of a supernova remnant depend on the progenitor star's magnetic field?

The magnetic field activity in a star can be very chaotic and my question is are they somehow related?
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### Review Content for my Comet Infographic

I've been hard at work in recent months on an infographic that details the anatomy of a comet... I'm a graphic designer and this is a fun little side-project of mine. It's only quite basic in terms of ...
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### Which structure is represented in this video (if any)?

I know this is not supposed to be precise since it is just a movie but I would suppose it is based on real things. In the Contact movie intro https://youtu.be/EWwhQB3TKXA?t=1m I think the Milk Way is ...
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### What is the difference between Space Dynamics & Astrodynamics in the engineering perspective? [migrated]

Within the context of Aeronautics, there are seemingly different meanings corresponding to Space Dynamics and Astrodynamics... ...
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### How can I find out which known stars lie within or close to M8

I'm looking for a way to find stars within a certain region of space, the Lagoona Nebula in this case, based on what we currently know. Are there some databases that allow you to make such queries? ...
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### Does the mass of the observable universe ever change?

First do we have anyway to even estimate the mass of the entire observable universe? And then is there any data that shows mass being gained or lost? Would we ever know if someone was playing with ...
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### How easy is it to mine water on Ceres?

It has been suggested by some futuristic or sci fi leaning thinkers, that Ceres' surface might be mined for water to support human exploration and settlement of space. But NASA's Dawn mission and ...
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### How thick can planetary rings be?

This arose from a comment on Worldbuilding. We have data from four planets in the Solar System with rings, which doesn't make for a very good sample size. Observations of exoplanets could change ...
108 views

### Is it possible to create a traditional clock solar system?

Is it possible to create the following system of satellites?: Place a satellite that orbits the some object X, once per day. Call it D. Place a satellite that orbits D, once per hour. Call it H ...
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### Orbiting and landing on non-sperical objects

If we orbit a non-spherical asteroid or moon at a sufficient distance I believe that we can consider it to be a point mass. Therefore we can take up a conventional orbit. Assuming our lander craft is ...
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### Where might a semi proficient amateur analyst participate in meaningful astronomical efforts

I am a retired engineer that has an ongoing interest in space efforts. In my youth I did work on the Apollo program but on propulsion and vehicle thermal control: not flight dynamics. I have ...
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### How common are exoplanets in distant orbits?

Are there many single transits in the Kepler data, which might be exoplanets with a longer orbital period than the time they have been observed for transits? Can any conclusions be drawn about how ...
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### What is the projection of Earth's axis on the sphere with the Sun in center (see explanation)

Seems like it is the most convenient SE community for this question.. Imagine the sphere, witch center is the Sun and radius is, say, ~1.5 distance from Sun to earth (in arbitrary time, precise ...
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### How to run MOOG on OS X Yosemite

By what process can a user running the latest version of OS X Yosemite execute MOOG with \$MOOG in bash? Due to the removal of 32bit libraries in OS X 10.7+, the ...
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### Could evaporating hot Jupiters have metallic hydrogen on their surfaces?

Jupiter is believed to have metallic hydrogen in its core. And gas giants that migrate to become hot Jupiters are believed to evaporate, have their atmospheres blown away by their nearby star. Can ...
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### Why do the planets in our solar system orbit in the same plane?

(Yes I'm excluding Pluto from this the same way it was excluded for not being a planet) Observing the planets orbit of the Sun they all seem relatively planar and roughly all orbit along the same ...
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### Is there a limit to how hot a star can be?

I think that size and mass do not correlate to temperature, but then again these factors contribute to the internal pressure. I would like to know if there is a limit to how hot a star can get and ...
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### Do celestial bodies have many asteroids orbiting them?

Are there statistics on the expected number of asteroids (of various sizes) to orbit planets and moons in our (or other) solar systems? Do we know of other natural bodies orbiting the Earth (besides ...
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### What is the average color of the universe?

Our Earth, being a beautiful blue orb, has an overall perceived wavelength of somewhere near 470 nm, that being the wavelength of light blue, because the oceans play an enormous role in the weighted ...
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### How large must an object be to be seen through a telescope?

I've studied this in a few optics classes before, but I'm drawing a blank at the moment. If I know the aperture size and focal length of a telescope, as well as how far away the object I want to view ...
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### What is the probability of an astronomical body hitting you?

It appears that there is already a calculated ballpark for meteor fatalities, but what about other factors such as space trash, comets, and other miscellaneous items in space? Is it possible to ...
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### Do all orbiting bodies eventually collide?

If two celestial bodies are in orbit, will they always eventually collide if not acted upon by outside forces?
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### How to calculate conjunctions of 2 planets

So, the recent conjunction of Jupiter and Venus seems to have spawned lots of excitement over this "rare" event. But what I can't figure out, is exactly how rare it is. And I've seen such conflicting ...
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### Why are there no stars on New Horizons images of Pluto

I followed the New Horizons Mission a little, and saw among others this image of Pluto: I wonder, why you can't see any stars on it. As far as my very basic knowledge in astronomy goes, I think you ...
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### How much more massive would Pluto have to be to clear its neighborhood?

How much more massive would Pluto have to be to clear its neighborhood?
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### Before Voyager 2, what were the highest quality photos of Uranus and Neptune?

I'm in search of historical knowledge of the outer ice giants, which seems so hard to come by. Right now I would be happy with just a photo of each, the best photo we had of them before Voyager 2. ...
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### How do the orbits of Nu Scorpii and AR Cassiopeiae work?

I apologize for the way this question is worded but I don't think I know the proper verbiage. Basically, I want to know how the stars orbit one another in the two septuple star systems. For example, ...
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### Where can I find a catalog for stars within 450 light-years of Earth?

Where can I find a catalog for stars within 450 light-years of Earth? I'd prefer one that has approximated masses as well.
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### Hubble law, cosmological redshift and distance

I have got confused with some cosmology formulas which calculate distance. The most famous formula is indeed the Hubble law which says (nowadays) velocity is proportional to Hubble's parameter at ...
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### How did New Horizons take such well-lit pictures of Pluto?

The photos of Pluto from New Horizons are truly beautiful. But considering that Pluto is so far away from its nearest start - our Sun - how is it so well lit up? Did the New Horizons have a massive ...