Unanswered Questions
597 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
16
votes
0answers
474 views
Is it “weird” that all disc galaxies rotate once every billion years?
In a recent paper (Cosmic clocks: A Tight Radius - Velocity Relationship for
HI-Selected Galaxies by Meurer, et al.), it was noted in the conclusion that:
[This] implies a constant orbital time of ∼...
15
votes
0answers
643 views
Terrestrial Exoplanet Skies – I've Built a Visual Sky Chart. Is it Accurate?
I'm an artist (and science enthusiast) and I've been trying to find a comprehensive resource that would help me clearly identify likely sky colors (as perceived by human vision) for exoplanets that ...
9
votes
0answers
455 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 ...
8
votes
0answers
77 views
What percentage of Helium-3 is primordial vs produced in stars
I tried to research but what I found is pretty limited. A very tiny but non zero percentage of primordial matter was Helium-3 or 3He.
Stars produce 3He as part of the proton-proton chain but they ...
8
votes
0answers
205 views
How would astronomical seeing on Mars differ from that on Earth?
Astronomical seeing is the limiting factor for the resolution of all but the smallest Earthbound telescopes.
Source
Stunning advances in adaptive optics (along with it's predecessor speckle ...
8
votes
0answers
182 views
Planning to revisit Arthur Eddington's experiment from 1919
As the fateful day draws closer, the United States will host a celestial event that comes once in three generations. I plan to witness this first hand at the exact center of greatest eclipse.
In the ...
8
votes
0answers
100 views
Estimating the tangential and cross component of the galaxy's shear using Gnomonic projection
I would like to know how I can estimate the tangential and cross component of the galaxy's shear using Gnomonic projection of the right ascension and declination ...
7
votes
1answer
171 views
Breakthrough Starshot; could we detect similar probes flying by Earth?
If extraterrestrial civilizations were sending probes by Earth similar to our plans for Breakthrough Starshot (where the probes are only a few meters in diameter and will be moving at up to 0.2c when ...
7
votes
0answers
65 views
How actively is Deep Learning being used in exoplanet identification?
Papers, like this one from Google, show that Deep Learning and Machine Learning are effective in detecting exoplanets from luminosity data provided by telescopes like TESS or Kepler.
These models ...
7
votes
0answers
180 views
What are Kepler's laws (as he wrote them)?
There are of course many, many sources that quote Kepler's laws of planetary motion. This is preventing me from finding out what I really want to know: which is - what are Kepler's laws as he wrote ...
7
votes
0answers
184 views
What fraction of a star's hydrogen store will be fused over its lifespan?
A main sequence star will fuse some of its hydrogen, but not all. In massive stars ($>1.5M_\odot$) the core is convective but the rest of the atmosphere radiative and hence does not mix much: as it ...
7
votes
0answers
193 views
What is the limiting abundances of elements at the end of the stelliferous era?
Is there any reputable published source on expected elemental abundances at the end of the era of stellar fusion? I am here interested in the contents of galaxies; much of intergalactic gas will be ...
6
votes
0answers
120 views
What object in the universe is most opaque to neutrinos?
I had this thought, and my first guess was "high density = lots of absorption, so I guess it's neutron stars" but this physics.se question about that has a great answer which covers why that's ...
6
votes
0answers
83 views
Is Spherical Astronomy by W. M. Smart a good book on positional/spherical astronomy?
I'm a math undergrad, but I'm really interested in learning positional astronomy; However, the only well-referenced textbook I've come up with is Spherical Astronomy by W. M. Smart.
I would like to ...
6
votes
0answers
82 views
Can the period of the planet transit across the sun be calculated in the same way the eclipse year is?
I read from Wikipedia$-$Eclipse cycle that the eclipse year, which is the period of Earth's hitting a certain node of its orbit around the sun, that is, the ecliptic, and the moon's orbit around Earth,...
