Astronomy Definition and 833 Threads

For an astronomy lab I am looking at pictures of the moon, measuring pixel distances and converting to km. Easy enough for the diameter of a crater, but the depth gets more complicated. To find the wall height of the crater, you measure the shadow length and the angle of altitude (theta in...

Hi all, I'm stuck on this question for my assginment...i need to derive the velocity at perhelion and aphelion using two separate methods: the conservation of specific angular momentum and energy. I think I'm OK with the energy part but I'm stuck on getting the velocities at aphelion and...

Q.1 If the mass of the sun is reduced by 1% and the Earth's velocity is also reduced by 1%, what will be the trajectory of the earth?

I want to know what is different between nebula and a death star?

I am planning to puruse the Distance Education Astronomy course (MSc in Astronomy) offered by Swinburne University of Australia (SAO). I already have a Master's degree in Chemistry (post graduate thesis being part of this) and a Bachelor's degree in Electronics from a reputed Indian University...

Saturn's rings backlit. You can see ALL the rings in glorious detail and light. It's beautiful. http://www.badastronomy.com/pix/bablog/2006/saturn_backlit_glow ...Any other amazing pictures?

I'm taking Astr. 321 right now. We were supposed to read the first 3 chapters. They go through the different planets (some detail, but nothing too complicated), the sun, asteroids, etc. The lectures went over this in more detail and went through things like which elements were created first...

Question: I live in west Los Angeles, and I was wondering if I would be able to see much at all with a personal telescope, if I got one. I imagine the light pollution would prevent me from observing anything but the brightest of objects (Moon, Venus, Polaris, etc). Has anyone attempting to do...

Hi all, Does anyone knows of any Astronomy graduate who earn Phd or Bsc or Msc at age between 35-45? Whats the oldest age ever to get Astro Phd? I have a Bachelor of Science in Physics ( Boston , MA) and I am 37 years of age, I have applied ( sucessful application) to do Master ( One...

SpaceTiger's Note: Taken from https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=130680" Sorry, this question is somewhat off-topic, but aren't the arxiv.org-papers peer-reviewed?

I am a 22 yr old girl. I just went back to college and I am double majoring in aeronautical engineering and astronomy. I am little confused as how to strt getting internships and such in my field. Also, I don't really know how to go about having a career in astronomy. I do realize that i'll be...

Is traveling a big deal when your an astronomer?

Hello, I'm in the midst of choosing technical electives (in the Engineering Physics program). I am just wondering what sorts of Electrical Engineering topics might be applicable to astrophysics, or space science in general? I hope this question is not too vague, but I have a choice of...

If you were trapped deep under the surface of a geologically dead rocky (say, Mars, or Mercury) or icy (say, Callisto, or Charon) planet-sized body, say 10 to 1,000 km down, what could you determine about the rest of the universe (and the place of your home in it)? Assume that you have...

NOTE by SpaceTiger: Split from the "Nasa" thread started by wolram. Here, we'll explore the question of the relation between seemingly disconnected areas of astronomical research. I respectfully suggest these are actually interrelated ideas. By better understanding what the planets are made...

Astronomy Problems: Please Help! THESE ARE ALSO POSTED ON THE HOMEWORK PAGE WITH NOTES ABOUT WHAT I HAVE DONE. 1.) If a star has a temperature only 7/10 that of our Sun but a radius 10 times our Sun's, how would its luminosity compare to our Sun? 2.) If a star has a mass 11 times our Sun's...

Hi all, I'm currently working on a uni essay, the subject of which is how the properties of light are (and have been) used to discover and observe objects in astronomy. So far I'm looking into how the value of c is used, how doppler shift is used to determine velocities, how looking at the...

I need to access a star catalogue on the internet that will tell me the distance of the stars from earth, as well as the mass of the stars. I need to "find" 2 stars: approx. 346.7 pc from Earth approx. 0.4786 pc from Earth I realize that there may be none. However, the point of the...

1.) The frequency of WUSC is 90.5 x 10^5 cycles per second. What is the wavelength? I used C = wavelength (frequency) Thus: 3x10^8 m/s = wavelength (90.5 x 10^5) wavelength = 3.314917127 m wavelength = 3.31 x 10^9 meters 2.) If the period for a certain satellite revolving in a polar...

Try talking about astro phys to *the man in the street*, and there is no interest whatsoever, how can this be redressed ? i can tell you the black eyed peas are more of interest to the GP.

yes, i am defintely not a genius at this stuff... i am having some problems figuring these two problems out: Earth is 1.5x10^11 m from the Sun and has a period of 365.2 days. Mars is an average of 2.28x10^11 km from the sun. what is the orbital period of Mars in Earth years? i am not...

I've been reading over my astronomy coursework and trying some questions, and I'm coming across a few things I'm not sure about, i'd be grateful if you could provide the answers. 1/ Give three possible astrophysical reasons for periodic variations in the observed photometric signal from a...

1. If a comet has an eccentricity of 0.98 and a semimajor axis of 12 AU, what are the apehlion and perihelion distances? What is the period? How does the velocity at perihelion compare to the velocity at aphelion? In this problem, I used the perihelion and aphelion equations to solve for...

I'm not sure if this is a correct forum for this topic, but I'm wondering if there is any research done on VLF (very low frequency) radio astronomy. Obviously, such telescope would have to be in space, because all signals up to 15 MHz are reflected by the atmosphere. If this was done or not...

Introductory Astronomy & Astrophysics by Zeilkik and Gregory 4th edition. What are your opinions on this book? As far as I know the field has changed dramatically over the years and I was wondering if I should get a better or newer book since it was published in 98. I also heard it had a...

http://www.space.com/spacenews/businessmonday_051121.html" A $1 billion dollar cost growth on the mission is a lot, but considering the value and continuing contributions of Hubble to this very day, I think we can all agree that the JWST is a priority mission for NASA’s universe division...

Given equations: \frac{d T^4}{dr} = - \frac{3 \kappa \rho}{a c} F_{rad} where a = 4 \sigma_{B} / c with \sigma_{B} being the Boltzmann constant. Also, define the optical depth \tau = \int \kappa \rho dr Optical depth measured at ground level is \tau_{g} Where \tau_{g} = \int^\infty_{ground}...

I need help identifying equations and trying to start these problems. Thanks... 1.) If Jupiter has an average temperature of 125 K, at what wavelength is it emitting the most energy according to Wien's Law? 2.) If a new planet is discovered beyond the orbit of Neptune which has a radius...

Hi I've just got a small problem that needs to be cleared here to allow me to do the other questions. Statement: Two objects were detected in a 100-sec exposure with 3x4 CCD camera Now you are given 3 by 4 matrices for the raw image data, bias, dark count and flat field. I've provided a link...

In a few days (pay day) I am hoping to buy a telescope as I've always been interested in the stars but i really am clueless as how to begin. I am hopeing to spend £150 max but would prefer if it cos a little less. I saw this on ebay but all of the specifications are beyond me...

Astronomy Problems: Please Help! I don't even know how to begin these problems. If someone could leave me tips or formulas or anything to help me solve these it would be greatly appreciated. Here are the following: 1. What is the diameter (in Kilometers) of Mars if it appears 18 arcsec...

I don't even know how to begin these problems. If someone could leave me tips or formulas or anything to help me solve these it would be greatly appreciated. Here are the following: 1. What is the diameter (in Kilometers) of Mars if it appears 18 arcsec in sized when it is 0.520 AU from...

Im currently a sophmore in college, majoring in physics. I really really want to pursue an astronomy related career, not sure exactly what I want to do, but I want it to be related to astronomy somehow. I am not having the best of luck with physics even with help and calc I was fine, but calc II...

Hey I've been practicing these example questions that our lecturer gave us as part of the preparation for the upcoming exam. I'd appreciate any help. I find it really difficult to do his work because his lecture notes barely explain anything. It would have been nice to have a textbook for the...

Alright so I was thinking a lot about doing physics w/ astronomy in university. Now the problem is I don't do physics (I did introductory stuff in science class from age 13-15, but it wasn't offered as a single subject after that). So would I be crazy to do it in university? I could get the...

A radio wave undergoes a phase shift of 180 degrees when it reflects from the calm surface of the ocean. In early days of radioastronomy, Australian Astronomers observed the interference between a radio wave arriving at the their antena on a direct path from the sun and on a path involving one...

ok the question is, Calculate the photons you expect to receive per Angstrom at the focus of a Cassegrain telescope of aperture 30cm for a star of V magnitude 9.0, observed at a zenith distance of 60 degrees. Assume extinction coefficient of 0.15 magnitudes per airmass, reflectivity at each...

Astronomy Problems HELP * URGENT* i am struggling with the following problems for my astronomy class. 1.) calculate the weight of a 91.0 kg (approx. 200 pounds at the surface of the earth) astronaut when his spaceship is at a point 51200.0 km above the Earth's center. also calculate his...

Hello, sorry I wasnt sure if this should be in the physics section of homework, but I didn't see anything where the astronomy section was...anyways. Im reviewing sidereal time systems, so given a right ascention and declination, I need to calculate what time an object is at its highest point...

Hi, this is my first post and I would really appreciate some help I have for an astronomy homework assignment. The 1st problem involves what would be the net gravitational force exerted on a center asteroid (B) of arbitrary mass 10 placed between two other asteroids, with the left (A) asteroid...

rived directly (cf. physics courses such as ‘The Feynman Lectures on ... are required for the determination of accurate orbits from which masses can be ... http://www.strw.leidenuniv.nl/~israel/astronomy.pdf I hope nice link :smile:

I'm doing a presentation in this topic and I find it very hard to look for information on the web. Please, point me to any website or resources that have information about this topic? Thank You~! :confused:

http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0508183 Authors: Michael J. West (University of Hawaii) Comments: Invited talk to appear in Communicating Astronomy with the Public 2005, eds. E.I. Robson and L.L. Christensen, 2005, ESA/Hubble Publishing, in press; 10 pages, 5 figures, pdf only Subj-class...

Hellfire requested that I post a list of classic papers that one could use for reference when trying to understand the current state of astronomy and cosmology. I'll do so here, but if I could politely ask the following: - Please do not debate the veracity of the papers in this thread. In...

Are New Ideas Important in Physics and Astronomy? If so, then why are young scientists with new ideas based in logic, reason, and reality, so often castigated, impugned, and crucified while those who quietly, passively, and uncreatively accept the nonesensical mythologies of String Theory and...

Would anyone list any physics/astronomy videos for entertainment? http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/program.html Stephen Hawking's Universe '97 Thanks

What are the hot topics in astronomy and cosmology as measured by production of recent academic papers? I'm not looking for an exact number, just a relative ranking with some sense of order of magnitude. My motive is to get at the whole mainstream v. non-mainstream issue in a way that...

What are the Top 10 hands-on teaching activities for young beginning astronomy students? These activities must be hands-on, instructional and fun. Here's what I have so far: 1. Ellipse Drawing Using pencil, string, push pins and paper draw an ellipse. Accompanied with...

In class, we've been assigned a project over astronomy. We have graphed an equation for 6 of Jupiter's moons and the planets (separately), and the equation was a power equation T=ar^b. T is the orbital period of the moon or planet, r is the distance from the planet (or sun), and a and b are...

Anyone has the dia gram of recently used astronomy telescope? Can you let me see?