# All Questions

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309 views

### What is the reason for high lithium concentrations in Sun-like stars?

In reading the European Space Organisation paper Lithium depletion in solar-like stars: no planet connection (Baumann et al. 2010), several conclusions based on their observations include: Lithium ...
648 views

### time on earth compared to completely stationary in space

I recently started trying to understand the theory of relativity and I have the following question. Because earth is orbiting the sun at approx 67,000 mph (and its my understanding time slows down ...
4k views

### How many meteors hit the moon every day or in how many days does a new meteor hit the moon?

What is the frequency of meteor strikes on the moon per day?
169 views

### Why does Jupiter break comets apart?

I understand that there are magnificent tidal forces that come with getting too close to Jupiter, but what is causing comets like Shoemaker-Levy to get torn apart? I wouldn't expect that the ...
2k views

### What would happen if a Black Hole and White Hole Collided?

Given our understanding of both black holes and white holes, what would be the outcome if they were both to suddenly collide? Black Holes: A black hole is a region of spacetime from which gravity ...
323 views

### Is the white hole a myth or not?

I've been doing some research on white holes, and there has not been enough information to provide the answer. Some websites are saying that they might exist, but it is not yet proven. So, is it true ...
2k views

### What are the color progression of a typical sunrise?

"Dawn simulators" are used to simulate a natural sunrise, or at least the physiological effects of one. What temporal sequence of color values (e.g., hue, saturation, brightness, and timing) ...
215 views

### Energetics of Titans Tholin haze

So, I've googled and wiki'd on this, but no clue, so I turn my question to the community: Given Titan's nice orange haze that is supposedly composed of Tholins and strangely coincides with its ...
736 views

### Why don't small stars end up as a black holes?

I have recently done some research into black holes, and realized that big stars form black holes, whilst smaller ones don't. Is this because the gravity isn't strong enough for it to fall in on ...
104 views

### Companion Sun the cause of comet impacts with Earth

On television, I heard a scientist who believes that our Sun has a companion (brown dwarf) Sun, that is responsible for comets destroying life here on Earth every 26 million years. He proposed the ...
1k views

### Could we fly/drive through Jupiter?

If Jupiter is made of gas, could we fly or drive through it or would its center be too dense?
913 views

### Why does this graph for sunlight intensity on land has a steeper slope during sunrise as compared to sunset?

I got this image while checking weather data for a city in North India using Mathematica's Wolfram Alpha query I noticed one feature in the graph which i could not explain . Why does the encircled ...
6k views

### If Jupiter is a gas-giant then why don't its features change?

A naive question. When we look at Jupiter, we see that its features didn't change largely over many years, for instance, the red-spot. If it is composed of gases and liquids, then why aren't the ...
15k views

### Exercise: 2D orbital mechanics simulation (python)

Just a little disclaimer beforehand: I have never studied astronomy or any exact sciences for that matter (not even IT), so I am trying to fill this gap by self-education. Astronomy is one of the ...
550 views

### What happens to photons that don't interact with something?

Say a photon left one of the first stars ever created in our universe. This photon has been traveling for 13+billion years through the vastness of space without ever hitting anything. Sure, it's ...
2k views

### Is the Drake Equation an accurate way of finding the probability of life on planets?

I was interested in finding out if there was life on any planets or moons. I saw ReNiSh A R's question, and I saw the answer about there being life on Europa, but it didn't accurately answer what I ...
305 views

### What will happen to our solar system if the milky way collided with Andromeda galaxy, would any planets survive? [duplicate]

Is there a chance if any planets in our solar system survive when the milky way and Andromeda collide?
248 views

### Black Holes, how do they form?

Do black holes form by when the massive star dies and all the gravity falls in on itself, or something else. Please let me know, I'm really desperate!!
285 views

### What causes the bright white area in this photo of the earth?

Regarding the photo of the earth described here, I know that the green tinge on the left hand side is to do with the aurora borealis. What's causing the bright white light on the right hand side?
246 views

### How would Special relativity explain past-present-future if thinking about 13-billion-light-years distanced objects

Halo. I'm interested in how would Special relativity comment on this: Suppose there are 2 objects, A and B. They are 13 billion light years away from each other. When the light from the B object ...
584 views

### Python 2D Jean Instability in Spiral Galaxy Simulation

I have ~1000 snapshots of a spiral galaxy simulation (from Molecular cloud perturbations t=0 to t>1Gyr. What I need to do is determine whether any position at any of the snapshot times meets criteria ...
2k views

### Is it possible to break apart a neutron star?

I was inspired by this question on Physics, as well as this question right here on Astronomy. Neutron stars are tightly bound together as neutron degenerate matter. They're very massive and have a ...
485 views

### How to determine scalar-to-tensor ratio r from CMB polarization spectrum?

CMB polarization spectrum can tell us about the primordial scalar and tensor perturbation. By analyze B and E mode angular spectrum power spectrum and temperature power spectrum we can determine the ...
238 views

### What is the ratio of “real” stars in the sky?

When you look at the sky without any utilities like binocular or telescope, what is the rough ratio of "real" stars to other objects like planets, the moon, asteroids, satellites? 90% stars - 10 % ...
2k views

### Viewing a solar eclipse through a leafy tree

Viewing my Facebook feed today, my local news station posted regarding a solar eclipse taking place today: Note the line about using a leafy tree as a filter: Scientists say NOT to directly look ...
235 views

### Is there a standard mapping of symbols to terms for celestial and orbital mechanics

Is there a standard mapping of symbols to terms for celestial and orbital mechanics (and physics in general)? For example here are some ambiguities Angular Momentum: L, H, J, $\Gamma$, Orbital ...
210 views

### Declination and Ascension - the Sun and Andromeda

If Andromeda is overhead at midnight, what is the right ascension of the sun? (andromeda is ar RA =1hr, Dec = +40). I thought I understood what Dec and RA were, but I can't think of how to start this ...
93 views

### Does naked eye miss a lot between local stars and distant milkiness?

When I look at the night sky I seem to resolve points which are local stars and milkiness at further regions of the galaxy. But what is between? I think there must be a lot of stars which are too ...
387 views

### Pictures of a curious astronomical phenomenon

In a recent holiday, a friend made the following picture. It contains a curious green "thing" in the nightsky. The picture was made in Ladakh, India, 6weeks ago. The "thing" only appeared in one of ...
187 views

### Evidence behind Giant Impact hypthesis

The giant impact hypothesis is a theory to explain how the moon was formed. What evidence is there that supports the theory and led us to find the current theory?
91 views

### Do extraterrestrial landscapes or planets count as nature?

If I am talking about the surface of Mars, is this still nature, comparable to uninhabited places on earth, or does nature exclusively describe not man-made things on earth. I am asking this ...
5k views

### How to compute satellite coordinates (lat,long) given antenna's coordinates, angles and satellite height

Given an Earth station (antenna) coordinates (in lat,long) ant its Elevation (El) and Azimuth (Az), how to compute the satellite coordinates (lat,long), known its height? For simplification purposes, ...