Astronomy Definition and 833 Threads

there is a great post over in General Astronomy https://www.physicsforums.com/showpost.php?p=507074&postcount=14 the author is someone I'm not familiar with named "moving finger" as in my wife's favorite verse from the Rubaiyat (no kidding, she likes the Rubaiyat and this quatrain is her...

hello. i am taking a planetary astronomy class and at the end there is a final project due. the project is "designing" a satellite mission within our solar system. we are to pick something (one thing) and visit it (it can be anything from asteroids to planets to moons, excluding earth, the sun...

Astronomy is the oldest of the physical sciences. In many early civilizations the regularity of celestial motions was recognized, and attempts were made to keep records and predict future events. The first practical function of astronomy was to provide a basis for the calendar, the units of...

How many people here work at an observatory, fulltime- if even such a thing exsists? What work do you typically do? Aside from teaching careers, what are my options in this field? Me I am really into theoretical physics, I am familiar with any physics term you throw at me, but don't quite cut...

What is the difference?

Is astronomy hard for very few rewards? I mean can you do anything with a degree with astronomy I think that it's cool and all but isn'nt it the most unpractical of the sciences.

"Review of Cosmic Vision 2015-2025" begins: "The Cosmic Vision workshop at UNESCO on 15-16 September 2004 showed that Europe is richer than ever in ideas for what should be done in space science in the coming years. This workshop brought us a major step forward in developing the vision of the...

hey guys.. well i am new in astronomy. kinda under age.. still 17 but soon i am going to get a new telescope and the problem is that i hear a lot about "magnitude" and "latitude" but the problem is that i don't know how to deal with so please i would appreciate if someone can help...

Hello everyone. Me and my fiance are takin Astronomy 101 this semester and we are having quite a hard time. We are absolutly stuck on this one question and the textbook we are given is not helping one bit. So as a last hope i did a google search on astronomy forums and this is where it...

Well, first off, i founded an astronomy club at school finally, (warren'd be pleased to know that.) It was also supposed to continue through the summer. Its been pretty unsuccesful though. With the exceptions of my boyfriend, my little sister, and a boy who I'm pretty sure 'digs' me, no one has...

I am taking an introductory astronomy course and am having problems finding the calculations needed for this problem. It is not a homework problem, just an extra question at the end of a chapter. I have asked my professor about this, and he is not sure either...any help is greatly appreciated...

I am at the moment in the middle of the classic "determining the mass of Jupiter by the motion of the moons" experiment. I have, however ground to a halt at a certain point, and am unsure as how to proceed. I have a series of photographs of the moons. We have a beautiful 14" in our University...

Hi, I am writing a project on ways to measure the angular size of our sun and distant stars. I've been given a list of ways this can be done and have been told to research them. However :biggrin: I am having trouble finding information on 2 of the methods. Using the transit of planets: I...

First view of the Earth from the Martian surface...Orion constellation...partial solar eclipses. Fun stuff. http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/03/12/mars.earth/index.html

I'm just looking for a list of "Uses of Astronomy" that I can look up in more detail. I've done quite a few searches, but can't seem to find anything other than time-keeping. Also, if anybody knows any "Future uses of Astronomy", then that would be a big help. If you think I'd get more...

http://www7.nationalacademies.org/bpa/projects_cpu_plan.html The Board on Physics and Astronomy proposes an assessment of an area of science at the intersection of physics and astronomy. The study will provide a broad vision that goes beyond traditional categories of space missions...

I've got a question about astronomy and star collision : I have to make a project about a topic (in astronomy) which takes about half a year. Now one point is that you can't just collect data and write a a text about that. You also have to do some practical work. No first I wanted to choose...

"Astronomy" says light slows down... Does the response to a question about gravitational lensing on page 72 of the March issue of "Astronomy" agree with other statements on this forum about the absolute nature of light speed? The question asked by "Astronomy" reader Tom Schmidt: "I noticed...

Personnally I think astronomy, at the present time, is a waste of time for several reasons. The current resources allocated for astronomy range in the billions of dollars. Also the current minds working on astronomy could be doing something far more useful for society. For example we could put...

I need help please. i have a couple of questions if someone could please help me with. 1. If a satellite with a small mass (any #) is orbiting the Earth with an orbit radius of 4000000m, what is the circular velocity of the satellite? 2. if the distance to an object is 4000000 km and the...

I could sure use some help with this question on my Astronomy homework: When the moon is at opposition from the Sun, what time of the day does it rise in our sky? To try to figure it out, I drew a picture with the objects in this order Moon ---- Earth ---- Sun I thought that maybe...

How do we know that the physics we can do in labs here on Earth today is the same physics in galaxies a long time ago and far, far away? Take a collection of your favourite theories - the gravity of Newton, the electromagnetism of Maxwell, the quantum world of Schrödinger and Heisenberg...

Was cleaning out my PM inbox and outbox----sometimes miss messages because the boxes overflow----and saw that back in August I sent someone a link to a good "history of astronomy" webpage which I then forgot about. Where to put good astro links? So here is a thread for useful general...

Why do you like Astronomy? It can be an expensive hobby, the best time to do it is on cold dark nights, the best results are tenuous and often difficult to achieve, and rarely do others share or even appreciate your enthusiasm. I am an amatuer astronomer (more of a casual observer) and I...

Who do you think contributed most to Astronomy? I was thinking between Galileo and COpernicus, but there are many more, so I wanted to know what you thought.

Have any of you been to a High School which had an Astronomy class or even a Telescope? They should teach Astronomy more in High School, since their computer classes seem to be lacking. I know I've never heard of a high school in real life, that taught Astronomy.

we need new people in the Astronomy Q/A thread Someone who may be a newcomer just posted a neat couple of questions and since I've played already a lot I am staying out to give new people a chance new players will think of different questions and it'll be more interesting ---check your PM...

The Eskimo Nebula has always been my favorite: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020407.html

Re: Planet X, http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/outdoors/article/0,1406,KNS_326_2021207,00.html

Again, I'm not sure if this belongs here, but it fits as well as Flatland. Spaceland is a SF story by Rudy Rucker. It deals with the life of Joe Cube (stupid name, I know), and how it's changed when he's visited by a four-dimensional woman, named Momo. As corny as it may sound (and as...

Given - 1) Twin earth-sized planets rotate about each other in a solar system. 2) The plane of their mutual orbit is the same plane in which they rotate about their star 3) Their star provides (on average) the same amount of energy as our sun Questions - 1) What is the size and nature of...

Hi everyone Use this topic for posts about ongoing/upcoming stargazing events (e.g., comets, eclipses, occultations, meteor showers, etc.). -Phobos

[SOLVED] Astronomy Q&A Game Hi guys! Most of you know how this works but for the newcomers: The rules are this: someone will ask a question and if the question is not answered correctly within 3 days then a new question will be posted. If an answer to a question is posted and the...