469 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
332 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 ...
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### The battle over Gliese 581 and Gliese 667C?

In 2014, Robertson et al. made a case that stellar activity is masquerading as planets (here and here) for these well-known systems. In both cases, they claim that the only real planets discovered so ...
317 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 ∼...
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### 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 ...
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### Why the track of the subgiant stage is almost horizontal on the HR diagram?

It is stated that: After the main sequence, as fusion weakens or stops in the core, outward radiation weakens. The helium core contracts and heats up. Gravitational energy is converted to thermal ...
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### 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 ...
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### 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 ...
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### Are red moons possible without eclipses or smoke from fires?

This morning I was on the bus and as I looked out of the window I saw that the moon was larger than usual and red. I live in eastern Norway and it was about -20ºF / 30ºC outside. There's no forest ...
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### 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 ...
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### Error propagation methods for orbit parameters

Recently I've encountered an article in our local astronomical popularization magazine. It is about a well known task of Sgr A*-black hole's mass estimation. The article is written as a step by step ...
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### 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 ...
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### How can maser emission be unpolarized?

I was reading that: However, unlike Galactic sources such as W3(OH), the emission is unpolarized and the 1667 MHz line is stronger than the 1665 MHz line. but how is this possible? Does not the ...
361 views

### Horseshoe orbits and integration in C

I'm studying a particular case of the restricted three-body problem. It's been found that some objects follow a horseshoe orbit pattern, and I'm trying to sort out something through an integration ...
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,...