Skeptics Stack Exchange
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Questions tagged [astronomy]

Science dealing with the study of space and celestial bodies. Can pertain to the composition, origin, motion, behavior or physical aspects of bodies in space as well as the practical applications of such information (ie: navigation).

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Was credit for the black hole image misattributed?

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) was used to create an image of Messier 87*, a supermassive black hole in the Messier 87 galaxy. This result has been heavily reported in the media leading up to its announcement 2019-04-10. Recent postings on…
SSimon
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Is the Gregorian calendar the "most accurate calendar ever devised"?

This statement comes from a Joe Rogan show episode where he chats to Neil de Grasse Tyson. His statement is about the Gregorian calendar, and goes as follows: "Point is, this was hard-earned, and the whole world uses this calendar, it is the most…
Zebrafish
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Is phosphine evidence of life on Venus?

This news article came out about evidence tied to the possibility of life on Venus. The crux of the evidence is the detection of phosphine. The claim is that we only know of two ways to make this compound. Artificially with chemistry, or by…
Larian LeQuella
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Are nebulae colored?

The pictures of nebulae are always depicted as vividly colored and with a great variety of colors: Source Omega nebula Source Eagle nebula pillars According to the English wikipedia article on nebulae, under the section Formation, «as the material…
Alenanno
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Do 26% of Americans believe the sun revolves around the Earth?

According to a 2014 NPR poll 26% of Americans believe the sun revolves around the Earth. The survey of 2,200 people in the United States was conducted by the NSF in 2012 and released on Friday at an annual meeting of the American Association for…
user35859
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Are there too few Supernova Remnants to support the Milky Way being billions of years old?

In this Creation magazine reprint of a 1994 article titled Exploding stars point to a young universe, Young-Earth Creationist, Jonathan Sarfati argues that the scarcity of Supernova remnants (SNRs) in the sky suggests the Milky Way galaxy is less…
Lucian09474
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Is it possible to officially Buy A Star?

There are plenty of companies around that let you purchase a star. They claim that the star will be named as you direct and they issue you a certificate of ownership. I realize that the T&C's for a lot of these deals have disclaimers within them,…
Ian
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Length of uncoiled human DNA

I recently came across this fact: There's enough DNA in the human body to stretch from the sun to Pluto and back. A couple of "Bollocks!" alarms began to chime in my head. While I expect that it will stretch a long way, Pluto seemed a little…
user7920
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Does Kasardevi, India, have an enormous geomagnetic field because of the Van Allen Belt?

An online magazine says this about Kasardevi: What makes the place what it is, is its positioning on the earth’s Van Allen Belt. Simply put, the region surrounding the Kasar Devi Temple has an enormous geomagnetic field, thanks to gaps in bands of…
nic
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Did we receive a signal from outer space in 1977?

This was recently posted on 9gag: In 1977, we received a signal from outer space, which lasted 72 seconds. We still do not know how or whence it came. Did we receive such a signal in 1977?
Remi.b
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Can we determine for sure if the Sun revolves around the Earth?

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson was the most recent (and final) rebbe of Chabad. In 1975 he published a series of correspondence with a scientist about whether the Sun revolves around the Earth and not the other way around. [Schneerson's first…
Benyamin
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Have there been any credible reports of unidentified flying objects?

A unidentified flying object is just that—a flying object that has not been identified. There need not be evidence of alien hi-jinx. My criteria for a credible UFO report would include: Verified by authentic photographic evidence or several…
Patches
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Did Betelgeuse explode on August 7, 2022?

This widely watched live stream claims to show the Betelgeuse supernova in progress. But I can't find any information elsewhere
Abdullah
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Did Bill Nye get booed by a room full of Texans for saying that the moon reflected the suns light?

Did Bill Nye get booed by a room full of Texans for saying that the moon reflected the Sun's light instead of coming from God? This is a well-known internet rumour. Is there any evidence proving/refuting it?
Lincity
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Would life not exist on Earth if it was one kilometer closer to, or farther from, the sun?

A lot of my friends (especially creationist ones) tell me that if planet earth was one kilometer closer to the sun, it would heat up too much and life wouldn't exist. On the other hand, if planet earth was one kilometer farther from the sun, it…
Moe
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