Questions tagged [interstellar]
The interstellar tag has no usage guidance.
23
questions
6
votes
1
answer
120
views
Does the galaxy look like a Web or a Tree?
Suppose we have a distance cutoff $r_0$.
Let's say that any two stars in the galaxy with a relative distance below $r_0$ have a path between them.
Would the path-connected Milky Way look like a Web in ...
- 163
3
votes
0
answers
53
views
Are interstellar meteorites more common on the moon's polar regions?
Given that the rocks of the solar system mostly travel on the disc, is there any considerable probability that impacts on the moon coming straight up and down can be interstellar rocks?
If axis-...
- 3,158
14
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Why isn't most hydrogen in the universe molecular (diatomic), instead of atomic (monoatomic)?
Similar questions have been asked before; but, why?
Is the monoatomic hydrogen left over from the Big Bang? And hasn't had the opportunity to collide with other hydrogen atoms yet?
Or are hydrogen ...
- 3,375
2
votes
2
answers
109
views
Is it possible to use a laser to propel a spaceship? [closed]
Reference: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1968BAN....19..421H
It would be necessary to aim a laser to the target star. How would the density of the laser compare with the interstellar radiation?
- 445
1
vote
1
answer
75
views
Is there any planet or black hole where we could experience time dilation like in the movie Interstellar?
As we seen in Interstellar movie Copper goes to a planet where he experienced time dilation which was 1 hour of staying on that planet will cost the 7 years on the earth. So, is there any planet or ...
0
votes
2
answers
133
views
Why black holes look black to us?
Why black holes look black to us?
The question might sound weird but my head stuck in it. As we know objects that fall into the black holes seem to remain unchanged in its event horizon due to the ...
2
votes
0
answers
79
views
If Planet Nine is a primordial black hole could it explain 'Oumuamua and Borisov's orbits without them being interstellar?
There has been an increasing amount of interest in the possibility of primordial black holes and that Planet Nine may be one itself. Planet Nine is a potential explanation for the orbital ...
2
votes
2
answers
127
views
Estimate prevalence of ʻOumuamua-style interstellar obects inside Jupiter orbit now that C/2019 Q4 (Borisov) is found?
Now we know two of them, so maybe it's not an outlier.
We have two points so we can draw a line. How many similar macroscopic objects should be zipping through space at ~30 km/sec so that we would ...
- 145
2
votes
2
answers
166
views
What makes scientists already so certain that Comet C/2019 Q4 (Borisov) is a comet and not an asteroid?
US Naval Research Laboratory scientist Dr. Karl Battams has recently tweeted
Unlike 'Oumuamua, whose asteroid-or-comet nature still gets debated, this one is definitely a comet. If it is ...
- 31.6k
1
vote
0
answers
50
views
Hypothetical: Is the interstellar wormhole too close to the black hole? [closed]
Most reasonings about hypothetical wormholes say, that you need an extreme amount of energy to keep them open.
Given that, isn’t the worm hole too close to the black hole gargantua? The gravity ...
- 11
4
votes
3
answers
440
views
What would you find within a void?
I'm aware that voids are relatively empty regions of the universe, but just how empty can they be? Wikipedia states that voids have 'few or no' galaxies, but I can't find much else.
To make my ...
- 143
2
votes
2
answers
723
views
What fraction of starlight, seen from Earth, is actually reflected light?
Thanks to reflected starlight, many planets and comets in the Solar System have been visible to humans since long before the development of modern astronomy.
Some of the starlight from outside the ...
4
votes
2
answers
220
views
How do we know about the origin of ʻOumuamua?
How do we know that ʻOumuamua is interstellar and not otherwise? I fail to understand the logic that the extraordinary speed of the object proves it to be of interstellar origin, and that our sun's ...
- 41
1
vote
1
answer
206
views
Our Solar System’s interstellar movement in relation to the Alpha Centauri System
Our solar system is moving at approx. 52,000 mph, so where is the Alpha Centauri system, which is assumed to be also moving through interstellar space at a similar velocity since it is part of our ...
4
votes
2
answers
361
views
How did astronomers determine the path of 'Oumuamua so quickly?
The interstellar asteroid 'Oumuamua was discovered on October 19, 2017. Once discovered, less than a month's worth of precovery observations were found on various sky surveys. By mid-November, ...
- 185
3
votes
1
answer
73
views
Is it possible for a solar flare in one star to influence the chances of a solar flare in another star?
Can a solar flare reach far enough to travel from one ordinary star to another? If so, how can that solar flare affect the following star?
2
votes
1
answer
128
views
Interstellar bodies
Could a sun emit a large piece of matter that escapes it's gravity, and might eventually reach another solar system? And what would be the effect if a planet sized object reached our solar system and ...
- 123
3
votes
2
answers
587
views
When would Oumuamua have entered the solar system?
So from what I've read, Oumuamua travels at around 26km/s when in interstellar space.
I also remember reading a while back that Voyager was travelling at around <...
user7845
4
votes
1
answer
182
views
Potential formation mechanisms of the interstellar asteroid 'Oumuamua
NASA recently discovered 'Oumuamua, an interstellar asteroid that appears to have a very elongated shape, unseen in solar system asteroids.
What physical mechanisms, in the progenitor stellar system ...
- 3,100
15
votes
3
answers
4k
views
Why isn't interstellar medium pulled in towards nearest massive object?
How does the ISM resist gravity? That's the only force acting on it, and all other particles seem to collect together to form stars. What makes the ISM so special among other particles?
- 285
5
votes
1
answer
352
views
Do liquids exist in the interstellar medium?
Am not asking about planetary/meteorite surfaces and am restricting myself to the interstellar medium
edit:
by interstellar medium I mean, the following:
"Interstellar medium (ISM) is the matter ...
- 83
5
votes
2
answers
1k
views
What's the mass of the interstellar neighborhood of the Sun?
What's approximatively the mass of the interstellar neighborhood of the Sun ?
(for example the neighborhood of radius 50 light-years).
Remark: The mass of the observable matter should be completed ...
2
votes
2
answers
548
views
Why do comets come from our local Oort cloud instead of from interstellar sources?
Comets form where stars form. And they are then ejected by the orbital changes of giant planets. But why are they ejected to form specifically a local Oort cloud instead of going interstellar and ...
- 10.8k