# All Questions

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### What qualifies as a local star?

My professor used the term 'local star'. What range of distance is generally considered 'local' for a star? And what would be considered distant?
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### What is the difference between a black hole and a wormhole?

I heard people say that a black hole is a single point of no return, and a wormhole is something which leads to another far-off point in spacetime. Some also say that a black hole can become a ...
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### earth is spherical , does it mean the ground on earth is like a ball?

I know earth is spherical in shape. Does this means earths atmosphere is spherical in shape or the ground/(land+water combined) is in spherical shape. I have some doubts if the second is true. ...
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### Why do we have so few neutrinos to study?

According to Wikipedia most neutrinos passing through the Earth emanate from the Sun. About 65 billion (6.5^10) solar neutrinos per second pass through every square centimeter perpendicular to the ...
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### Why do not we use optical telescopes to study cosmic rays directly?

HESS, CTA, and VERITAS are used to study cosmic rays. What they receive are optical (maybe very blue) photons. So my question is: Why don't we use optical telescopes to study cosmic rays directly?
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### How gently could a comet/asteroid/meteorite “hit” Earth?

Could an object from outer space with the right velocity and orbit come into contact with the surface of our planet in a "slowish" manner?
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### Light Cone Explanation

Not sure if this question belongs here, or on Physics. Would someone please describe the "anatomy" of a light cone and provide an intuitive example? I have read the Wikipedia article ...
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### 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 ...
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### Retrograde motion and Kuiper Belt Objects

As seen from Earth, planets such as Mars and Jupiter exhibit retrograde motion when they are near opposition (from Earth). I am wondering how this effect extends to very distant objects, such as ...
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### What is the direction of the dark energy force on gravitational rotation curve of galaxies?

Is the direction of this force is like gravity (to the center of mass) or orbiting objects' direction of movement?
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### Theoretical limits for natural satellites having natural satellites

Is there an inherent instability or limit that prevents natural satellites like the moons of Jupiter from having their own natural satellites? I looked at other questions such as do moons have moons ...
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### What “revolutionary” discoveries were made by Hubble Telescope [on hold]

Forgive me for the naive question. Besides taking pictures of tons of objects in space, what kinds of revolutionary discoveries were made as a result of data from Hubble? Did Hubble shed light on any ...
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### Calculating 2004 BL86 position using software

Is it possible to view asteroid 2004 BL86 using Stellarium or the iOS Star Walk app?
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### Planetary orientation calculator

Can anyone recommend a website or a program that reliably calculates orientation of a planet (e.g. Mercury). I.e. I need to find the subsolar point [SSP] longitude knowing datetime. I have found ...
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### How do stars or galaxies get their spin?

It is my understanding that when a star, a planetary disk, or a galaxy forms, the rotational momentum of the whole system is conserved. Due to the smaller size of the resulting object, it will spin ...
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### Is there a cosmic, rather than technological, upper limit to what a telescope can resolve?

Space radio interferometers could have a baseline of millions of kilometers, but is there a point where a larger baseline doesn't improve the resolution anymore because the photons observed are ...
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### Do objects look larger the further away they are, beyond z=1?

I stumbled upon this text which illustrates and says: We find that as the object is moved to higher redshifts its angular size first decreases (as naively expected) but soon begins to increase ...
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### How to complete the Hipparcos Catalog?

I've downloaded hipparcos catalog from the Strasbourg Universe but whilst there is a lot of information, I can't find the names of the stars that the HipID relates to. There is the wikipedia page ...
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### The destruction of the Universe by a bubble

So I was watching a documentary on television about this and a number of theories that are proposed as to what the fate of the Universe will be: "Big Crunch" "Big Freeze" "Big Rip" I understand ...
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### Why don't we orbit the center of our galaxy?

At the center of the milky way, there must be some giant mass that keeps the galaxy from just floating away from itself. So, obviously, we feel the immense gravitational pull of whatever this is. But, ...
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### How to find RA 0

I am standing in an open area and can see the sky for a full 360 degrees. I have the coordinates of an object (RA and DEC). Where do I look to find RA 0?
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### Alien Planet habitable or not? [migrated]

So an amazing thing happens and we locate an Earth like Planet and we also achieve the technology that enables us to travel there. Upon arrival we discover that dinosaurs are roaming on the entire ...
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### What does it mean to say 'space exists?'

From another question I posted, I learned that not only was matter created from the Big Bang, but more importantly, space itself. What does it mean for space to be created? Does it exist in the same ...
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### Why do we need to add a second to 30 June and risk upsetting Internet?

We linked a physical constant (the time of one second) to a physical non constant (the rotation of the earth) so there will have to be adjustments - or not? Is it important that the UTC in one line on ...
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### 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 ...
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### The tidal locking problem concerning Earth sized planets in habital 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....oh ok I'm fibbing I can't do it. ...
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### What are the units of distance in this subtended angle calculation?

I'd like to find the distance at which a 2.4 cm coin is subtended by an angle of 10". I've drawn my diagram and found that $D=\dfrac{d}{\alpha}$ using the small angle approximation. Since \$10" = ...
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### PowerSeeker 114Q

I just purchased a powerseeker 114q by Celestron. This is my very first telescope. I believe I assembled it correctly however I can't see anything out of it. Well I can see a small corner of an image. ...
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### Why does the sun rise north of east between the vernal and autumnal equinox?

Can someone please explain this phenomenon? A solid explanation seems to be missing from the entire internet.
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### Did I see a meteor or a re-entry?

Last night (January 21, possibly 5:30 UTC), from my house in northern California, I saw a moving point of light in the sky, going west to east, crossing about 120 degrees of sky in 5 seconds or so. ...
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### How often does the supermassive black hole in the Milky Way become a quasar?

My current interest is black holes and quasars. I was wondering how often they erupt--specifically ours? Would it be blindingly bright on Earth? Finally, would there be any effects that would alter ...
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### 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?
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### Recent origin of Saturn's rings

Saturn was formed around billion years ago along with Jupiter. After which it had enough time to form moon which can break into rings. Then why is it said that Saturn's ring are of recent origin - ...
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### Where does the dust on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko come from?

As we (laymen) are told, comets lose gas and dust when they descent into the denser regions of the solar system. Seemingly so much and so large parts that they can even cause meteor showers like in ...
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### If Alpha Centauri A's solar system exactly mirrored our own, what would we be able to detect?

Suppose there was an exact replica of our solar system 4.4 ly away (people included). What would we be able to detect and with what telescope(s)? Which planets? Could we detect radio transmissions ...
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### How do I deduce my latitude and longitude from N obervations of occultations from the same place?

I think it would be an interesting exercise to measure the latiude and longitude of my house using N occultation timings. I would like to see how precisely I can measure it using that technique, and ...
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### Finding the temperature of Earth from temperature of Mars and its distance from Sun

I am to compute the temperature of planet--in fact I've already found out it's Earth--knowing only: the surface temperature of Mars (210 K) and its distance from Sun (1.524 AU) and of course ...
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### Photometric and spectroscopic redshifts [closed]

How do I collect data for photometric redshift estimation from the SDSS? I am currently doing my MS thesis and want to have the data for this purpose. How can I effectively mine the data from the ...
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### How likely is it that the Sun will destroy our electric society?

Given the studies of the Sun and similar stars and the most impressive understanding of its physics, is there any kind of probability distribution for its dangerous behavior? There are also some ...
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### What is supposedly in the center of the Milky Way?

It's big. It's bright. It's white. It's so intense. But what is at the center of the Milky Way?
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### 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, ...
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### How to calculate distance from object to point on celestial sphere

I'd like to calculate the distance (in arcsec) from the object nearest to ra='08h55m10s' dec='-7d14m42s' to that point on the celestial sphere. I am actually having trouble identifying the object. I ...
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### Do we have knowledge of the geology of the moon?

With reference to the Ebb and Flow lunar satellites, was there any data about its geology? Is there a central core, or is it homogenous?
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### Is it safe to view moon at daytime through telescope

I have a little 76mm Newtonian Reflector. I want to see the moon at daytime. Is it safe to look at sky at daytime when sun is shinning or there is any risk of sun.
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### Could the planets in the Solar System have been captured?

Ignoring any current beliefs, is it possible that the planets could have been captured by the Sun's gravitational force after drifting through space while retaining their axis of spin and speed? ...
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### Why do scientists think life requires water? [duplicate]

As far as I know, scientists seeking extraterrestial life are simply looking for plantets containing water in liquid state. To be honest, I find this weird. It is true that life - in the form we know ...
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### Why can't we see distant galaxies with the naked eye?

If light keeps travelling in a straight line, why can't we see distant galaxies with the naked eye? Surely if you stared long enough, the light from them would eventually hit your eye? I apologize if ...
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### How can I see a nebula?

I've recently been seeing a bunch of pictures of nebulae and I'm just fascinated by their beauty and complexity. Is there any kind of telescope that would make it possible to view it from here on ...