Community Digest

Top new questions this week:

why is it impossible to infer the surface temperature of Venus by spectroscopy observation from earth?

It is well known that the surface temperature of the sun is determined by fitting the sunlight with the black-body spectrum. Why is this inappropriate for Venus? I have the question because of the ...

planet planetary-atmosphere venus planetary-science  
user avatar asked by S. Kohn Score of 14
user avatar answered by Tanner Swett Score of 30

Is Venus' north towards Earth's south

Is Venus upside down? Does its north point in the same direction as Earth's south? (roughly) Or does it just spin clockwise and its north points towards Earth's north? (also roughly) It seems that the ...

venus  
user avatar asked by Stephen Score of 11
user avatar answered by James K Score of 31

Instead of a 4 meter diameter, 50 liter spinning pool of dangerous mercury, why didn't the ILMT just use an ionic liquid? Or gallium?

Phys.org's New Indian telescope identifies its first supernova links to the recent arXiv Follow-up strategy of ILMT discovered supernovae. The International Liquid Mirror Telescope is no ordinary ...

mirror mirror-making liquid-mirror-telescopes  
user avatar asked by uhoh Score of 4
user avatar answered by James K Score of 6

What is the ring of light around the moon and which star seen near it?

In this amatuer photograph, the following are to be noted: There is a faint ring of light around the moon. What is the distance we see this at. From the ground it looks like a hundred meters. There ...

the-moon light venus night-sky  
user avatar asked by Nick Score of 4
user avatar answered by Dr Chuck Score of 14

Celestial "orbits"

I heard that we're losing our moon, its slipping away from us in such tiny imperceptible steps that we don't notice any significant change even over kiloyears. The same must apply to planets, inching ...

orbit the-moon planet gravity  
user avatar asked by Agent Smith Score of 4
user avatar answered by Anders Sandberg Score of 8

How much mass did the Late Heavy Bombardment add to Mars?

How much mass was deposited on a terrestrial planet during the Late Heavy Bombardment (LHB)? Is it possible to estimate a reasonable interval, specifically, for Mars? Could the mass addition to Mars ...

solar-system asteroids comets planetary-formation solar-system-evolution  
user avatar asked by Michael_1812 Score of 3
user avatar answered by Michael_1812 Score of 6

Do the Galilean moons' orbits around the Sun have loops (i.e. have concave parts)? And if so, how can their orbits be graphed?

The shape of the Moon's orbit around the Sun has been discussed to death, and the answer is that the Moon's orbit has no concave "loops" whatsoever. I am relatively sure that the determinant ...

orbit orbital-mechanics  
user avatar asked by user267545 Score of 3
user avatar answered by planetmaker Score of 5

Greatest hits from previous weeks:

What will happen to life on Earth when the Andromeda and Milky Way galaxies collide?

It is said that the Andromeda and Milky Way galaxies are coming close to each other with a speed of approximately 400000 km/hour. They will be together in the next 4 billion years. What will happen ...

galaxy milky-way life  
user avatar asked by AmitG Score of 24
user avatar answered by Adam Davis Score of 24

Which kind of celestial body killed dinosaurs?

Well, the internet lies a lot, so there's so much information mixed with misinformation... Some sources call what killed the dinosaurs an asteroid and others a meteor. Is there any consensus on this? ...

asteroids meteor meteorite meteoroid chicxulub  
user avatar asked by kokbira Score of 3
user avatar answered by M. A. Golding Score of 21

If Earth is tilted, why is Polaris always above the same spot?

Why is Polaris, the North Star, always above (or near) the North Pole? If Earth is tilted, Polaris' path should be in winter 23 degrees away from its path in summer, or not?

observational-astronomy earth amateur-observing  
user avatar asked by Guest55 Score of 48
user avatar answered by JohnHoltz Score of 107

How do we know the expansion of the universe is not centered around our position?

It is my understanding that the red shift of galaxies in whatever direction we look shows the universe is expanding in every direction around us. That could be explained in two ways: A (accepted): The ...

expansion  
user avatar asked by armand Score of 22
user avatar answered by Sten Score of 13

Do all planets have a molten core?

As we know, according to Wikipedia on Earth's inner core: The Earth's inner core is the Earth's innermost part and according to seismological studies, it is primarily a solid ball with a radius of ...

planet core  
user avatar asked by Austin Phillips Score of 10
user avatar answered by This Play Name Score of 6

When will the Sun end all human life on Earth?

If nothing else wipes out human existence prior to this, at what point will the Sun make Earth uninhabitable for humans?

the-sun  
user avatar asked by Daniel Storm Score of 61
user avatar answered by Sir Cumference Score of 68

How did the Milky Way quasar not disrupt life on Earth?

According to most sources of information I have found (A Quora answer and books), when galaxies become quasars, they destroy all life in their host galaxy, as they output so much radiation that they ...

black-hole supermassive-black-hole life radiation galactic-center  
user avatar asked by Furious Arcturus Score of 15
user avatar answered by zibadawa timmy Score of 7

Can you answer these questions?

How will NASA perseverance re-enter the earth from Mars

Perseverance has been in Mars since 2021, and I'm just wondering the mechanism through with it will return to earth.

mars nasa  
user avatar asked by Innocent Friday Score of 1

Could double planets in red dwarfs water-habitable zones be stable?

Red dwarfs are so dim that planets in the water habitable zone end up tidally locked to their star. Locking may good for habitability: among other advantages, no axial tilt means less swings of ...

habitable-zone red-dwarf  
user avatar asked by Kevin Kostlan Score of 3
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