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).
Questions tagged [astronomy]
82 questions
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Was the 30th of June the closest Venus and Jupiter have appeared since 2 B.C?
Browsing Facebook's trending section on the conjunction between Venus and Jupiter, I found several individuals claiming that this is the first time since 2 B.C that the two have gotten as close as they have.
e.g
According to this page, a…
BorderlineBaguette
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Do 25 million meteors enter Earth's atmosphere each day?
It is claimed that about 25 million meteors enter Earth's atmosphere each day and most of them burn up and turn into dust.
About 25 million meteors enter the Earth's atmosphere every day (duck!). Most burn up and about 1 million kilograms of dust…
ermanen
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Is there a way to tell if the sun is rising or setting by looking at a picture and not knowing which coast it was taken at?
Looking through some pictures after watching "The Zero Theorem" it crossed my mind.
SurvMach
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Could meteors have been been formed with lead, and mislead radiometric dating?
The age of the Earth has been determined by radiometric dating of meteorites, by seeing how much uranium has decayed into lead.
How do we know the meteor samples weren't formed with lead already in them, and thus confuse the radiometric dating?…
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Is global temperature significantly affected by time of galactic year?
There is a claim that different patches of the galaxy have different climate effects due to variations in cosmic ray strength. I've occasionally heard this used to explain global warming but more often ice ages.
This article is an example of both…
William Grobman
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Can they calculate how close 2012 DA14 comes to Earth for the remainder of this century
... but couldn't tell until recently that Apophis won't hit Earth around 2030?
What's the catch in these calculations? Are the numbers just so incredibly big that the 28,000 km distance in which 2012 DA14 passed Earth on Friday last week are already…
0xC0000022L
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Is there no link between the meteor that affected Russia and the asteroid 2012 DA14?
A large meteor or meteors entered the atmosphere near Russia's Chelyabinsk region hours before closest approach of asteroid 2012 DA14. Initial claims are that the two are unrelated; the above link says "The European Space Agency posted a message on…
Larry OBrien
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Kim Il-Sung's birthday present: a solar eclipse?
I heard this story, where they celebrated the birthday of the now defunct North Korean dictator Kim Il-sung in the 1970s and as a birthday present they created through some very complex artillery maneuvers an artificial total solar eclipse over…
Count Zero
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Did Jupiter enter into the body of the constellation Virgo?
There is a claim spreading around and I'd like to know if this is correct from the astronomical side.
On November 20, 2016, an astronomical event begins that will last nine
and a half months...
and then it follows:
On November 20, 2016,…
Grasper
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Did Babylonians in BCE used geometrical methods in mathematical astronomy to calculate planet positions and its motions?
A recent (2016) study, Ancient Babylonian astronomers calculated Jupiter’s position from the area under a time-velocity graph examines a cuneiform script and gives evidence that
that Babylonians in 350-50 BCE were able to use geometrical methods to…
kenorb
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Was Sun's distance mentioned correctly in "Hanuman Chalisa", the 16 th century poem?
I found many sites stating that the Sun's distance was mentioned accurately in the "Hanuman Chalisa" hymn written in the 16th century.
Even Wikipedia has a mention of this.
juga sahasra jojana para bhānū।
līlyo tāhi madhura phala jānū॥ 18 ॥
The…
Dudey
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Do pulses of lunar waves traverse across the moon?
On the Fortean Times forum a user has posted links to a number of conspiracy theorist videos that show strange waves in video images of the Moon.
Latest conspiracy craze seems to be about "lunar waves" filmed on the
moon (from Earth...) They…
user3179196
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Did the Qur'an predict an expanding universe 1300 years before Edwin Hubble?
There is a verse in the Qur'an that goes:
The heavens, We have built them with might. And verily, We are expanding it (51:47)
Some Islamic scholars say that this is an indication of the universe constantly expanding, which wasn't known by the…
user66632
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Does the center of the Milky Way galaxy taste of raspberries?
An article (2009) from The Guardian claims that the center of the Milky Way tastes of raspberries:
Astronomers searching for the building blocks of life in a giant dust cloud at the heart of the Milky Way have concluded that it would taste vaguely…
user36356
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Is this video by Carl Sagan?
I found a video a video on youtube :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ugyrzr5Ds8o
Carl Segan on Hindu Civilization,
Can anyone confirm if this footage is really from Carl Sagan?
Connor Verlekar
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