Astronomy Definition and 833 Threads

I am interested in studying astronomy. What books would you recommend for a beginner in this subject? I have a fairly strong knowledge in Physics and Math.

Question about having a "Theory" in astronomy. ? Hey, Let's say you have a theory something to do with astronomy. You have not done any research on it, and its just an idea right now. What do you do next? How can you go forth and write about it, without someone else finding it, and...

Hi everyone! I was wondering what kind of skills i have to bring with me to study astronomy or astrophysics.. Oh and do I have to be a "math genius", or is math not as important as in other branches? I'm talking about pure theoretical math.. Thanks everyone!

Astronomy "research" question. Thanks I am doing a study on research ideas for astronomy. This might be hard to explain what I am asking for, but ill try my best :) Basically, I am asking you all for ideas that a graduate or any student can research. Mainly things that have yet to be...

Hi, the name really says it all, I've been looking for good colleges that focus on astronomy and astrophysics, either or. The problem is that the college search sites really are not good at deciding between a college with astronomy, and a GOOD college with astronomy, one that has research, good...

I am a current undergrad double majoring in physics and astronomy (physics B.A. and astronomy B.S.) and am on an astronomy research team as well. I have a passion for astrophysics (as you can tell my college does not offer an astrophysics major), but my parents want me to go to med school, which...

I'm a CC student (barely just started), and I'm planning on transferring to a high quality university with excellent grades. Problem being, I've been really confused as to what to major in.. I was trying to go the "realist" route before, and get into business even though it's not really what...

Hello friends, I am a graduate from University of Houston in computer science field. I am looking for a career shift and need guidance of how I can do it. I have no idea why I chose computer science as my career. But in the last 2 years my love for physics has increased. Is it...

Hy. I'm looking for a professional astronomy software. Anybody knows ? Thanks!

Hello all- I'm currently wrapping up a Physics M.S. in astrophysics at a well-known university in the USA for this field, and for a few reasons I want to get my Astronomy PhD in Europe, focusing on experiment (I know I want to transfer from here because the research opportunities don't...

Hello everyone. I want to know if anybody has heard good things about the Swinburne online astronomy master’s degree program. Is this a respectable program for PhD entrance committees here in the US or abroad? Due to my schedule, an online master’s degree program in astronomy would really work...

The May 2010 issue of Scientific American had an article titled http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=through-neutrino-eyes". I enjoyed the article and read it several times. It made me wonder though - how much energy in the form of neutrinos is passing through any given space...

Just curious, what is the longest wavelength we can currently observe with our instruments, & are there are good sources for future (even if just theoretical) projects at longer wavelengths (future projects do no have to be based on Earth)?

, or would you be majoring in physics if you want to study astronomy? Say for example you want to study astronomy, if you go to assist.org, there is no articulation agreement for earning a degree in astronomy? Ok, if you look here there is no school in California, at least, offering any degree...

I was going to put this up in the homework forum, but I feel the folks down here are more capable of helping me out. I have to do an assignment, but I cannot go in for office hours to get help from my professor. Regretfully, I lost the sheet and forgot to grab another until just a few days...

1. Taking the latitude of Dublin as 53.3 degrees North, and the tilt of the Earth's axis and the lunar orbit to be 23.5 and 5 degrees respectively, what is the maximum altitude of the Moon as seen from Dublin? What is the maximum altitude as seen from the North pole? 2. Homework Equations...

So I'm currently a junior at the University of Maryland majoring in Criminal Justice/Criminology. I've been pretty interested in astronomy for a few years, but lacked the focus to really feel confident in such an undertaking. I have no idea now what specifically I'd like to do with an additional...

redshift ""first year astronomy"" how do i find distance using redshift? please keep in mind that this is first year astronomy course i am currently taking having some trouble doing it. don't know where to start

I have four questions that need to be answered. They are from my university course that I am taking in general astronomy 2. Could anybody tell me how I would obtain the detailed solutions to arrive at the answers? I have attached a pdf file of the questions and answers, please download it and...

I've recently been reading articles (primarily wikipedia) about different plants, their sizes, and all elements required in the identification of certain stars, constellations etc. I'd like to learn more but simply visiting pages on Wikipedia endlessly for hours won't accumulate much aside from...

Hi, can anyone help me solve the following questions? 1.What was the peak wavelength of the CMB when R=0.5? a. What temperature does this correspond to? 2. Two quarks named Susan and Nick existed in the early universe. Susan became part of a proton and Nick became part of a neutron. What...

Homework Statement Assume that the vast majority of the photons in the present Universe are cosmic microwave radiation photons that are a relic of the big bang. For simplicity, also assume that all the photons have the energy corresponding to the wavelength of the peak of a 2.73K black-body...

Hello. I am looking for an online book or course (free) regarding solar structure/physics at the first-year graduate level. Can anyone point me in that direction? I've looked into it but haven't come up with anything very useful. Thanks in advance!

hello all, what is the difference between ASTRONOMY and ASTROPHYSICS? thank you in advance.

Homework Statement Estimate the number of low and high mass stars that you expect to find in our Milky Way Galaxy now. Use the following (very approximate but about right numbers) for your estimate: The Star Formation Rate in our galaxy is approximately 1 Solar Mass per year and virtually...

Homework Statement 1. If you looked at the spectrum of a reflection nebula, would you see absorption lines, emission lines, or no lines? Explain your answer. As part of your explanation, describe how the spectrum demonstrates that the light was reflected from nearby stars. Homework...

Answer: About 50 IQ points

Yesterday I got an interview After that, they told me to try next time if this time I was not accepted and wait for their call if they want to contact. When someone told you so, does that mean you failed ?

I'm hoping someone can recommend a couple of good books on some varied topics. I'm looking for a good, mature series of books on the planets or even one good book covering them all. I'm also looking for interesting reads on cosmology, solar physics and galaxies. If anyone can recommend some...

Your observatory lies at a latitude of 45 N and longitude 90 W. Which object or objects can you observe from this location? An object at +87 dec, an object at -40 dec, and an object at -67 dec. I drew up a little celestial sphere for this and decided that 87 dec would be the only object I...

Astronomy Research?? Hi all, i am basically a software engineering student (pre-final year). I am good at programming and some math and physics, and i have so much craze about astronomy/space research and star gazing and everything related to astronomy. I wish i can take up some 'real'...

Astronomy Research?? Hi all, i am basically a software engineering student (pre-final year). I am good at programming and some math and physics, and i have so much craze about astronomy/space research and star gazing and everything related to astronomy. I wish i can take up some 'real'...

I'm transferring schools for the fall of 2010, and one of the schools that I'm looking into offers a B.S. in Physics and a separate B.S. in Astronomy. The other school I'm looking into offers only a B.S. in Physics, though they say I can take elective courses in Astronomy. Basically, I want to...

What exactly are the differences between Astronomy, Astrophysics, Cosmology, Planetary Science?

I have a friend asking for ideas for an A or C oriented gift, including things that might be a bit of a scam, like having a star named after you. I know that you can buy land on the moon but that is expensive. Any ideas?

Homework Statement ...Hence show that the mass of the star is M = 4\pip_{c}\left(R^{3}/3 ) Homework Equations M(r) = 4 \pip_{c}\left(r^{3}/3 - r^{4}/4R) This is the shell massThe Attempt at a Solution I already found the shell mass via intergration, and I know that I have to build up an...

okay so i was given this graph and questions and have no clue where to start! any help or tips would be great! thanks! if you can't really see the graph i have attached the actual paper with the graph so u can see it! Planet M (kg) R (km) a A (AU) MStar (kg) SStar P0(bar) T0(K)...

I've got to solve this problem and I am having quite an hard time figuring out how... Sorry, but I think I need help: "An astronomer takes a spectrum of a distant quasar using a 4m telescope. With an exposure time of one hour, the optical spectrum contains about 10,000 photons. The source...

1. Homework Statement Two stars belong to the same cluster, the parallax measured to one star is (2±1)x10^-3 arcseconds, towards the other the parallax is (4±2)x10^-3 arcseconds. Find the distance to both objects seperatly and also compute the distance when both measurements are...

Homework Statement Two stars belong to the same cluster, the parallax measured to one star is (2±1)x10^-3 arcseconds, towards the other the parallax is (4±2)x10^-3 arcseconds. Find the distance to both objects seperatly and also compute the distance when both measurements are combined...

Homework Statement The lifetime of the sun on the main sequenceof the hertzprung-russel diagram is estimated to be 10^10 years. Assuming that the luminosities of stars on the upper diagram main sequence vary as mass^4, estimate the solar mass of a star for which it's main squence lifetime is...

whats up everyone, i am a science major, and since science courses are prerequisites, next semester i am only able to take 9 credits (gen chem 2 with lab, and precalculus) i plan on overloading with 14 credits during the summer, in order to graduate with my associates in a 2 year time period...

Hey can someone help me with the followng 2 questions, i am so confuzed and have no idea how to start and what formulas to use. 1. the minimum mass of a star is 0.08 solar mass or 80 Jupiter masses. If the fuel that powered stars was helium instead of hydrogen would the minimum mass of...

Hello! I wasn't sure where to post this so if I'm in error please excuse me. I find myself in a rather comfortable position of being enrolled in uni but having plenty of time to spare. Furthermore, my current academic let's me pick a major/minor next year of..well almost anything really. I've...

Hi, I've been looking for a good laymans book on Astronomy for ages now, but haven't been able to find one that isn't seriously heavy going on the physics front. I have plenty of astrophysics books, but not one dedicated to simple observational astronomy. Can anyone recommend a good, easy...

what do you learn in an astronomy class, considering taking one , this is not at a university, but at a junior college. Just curious about what topics are covered.

what do u recoment for somwhone that's interested in astronomy?

Does anyone know a good textbook on Astronomy? Containing the elliptical quantities: a,e,i,w,N,LP,ML,MA,EA,r and v and how to convert these quantities to: RA, DEC, Azi and Elev plus more info about the planets and the stars.

gap after MSc in Astronomy, will it hinder my chances of getting a PhD position?? hi all, I am an Indian student and I got my BSc in physics (Distinction) in 2006 followed by an MSc from UK in Astronomy (Merit) in 2007 (one year). I did not apply for a phd after my MSc as i thought that...

Hey everyone, Over the past few days I have been having trouble with finding research for my optics project. The topic I chose was supposed to be the physics behind how astronomer's and astrophysics measure the Spectrum of the Sun ans specifically the mathematics/physics behind the...