Astronomy

Question: How high is the probability of the existence of a ninth planet in the solar system? When should we expect an unambiguous answer to the question of its existence? Answer: This question for the last several years is actively discussed in the scientific community. Indeed, there is some reason…

A Short Poem — If I could pull down the moon; I would probably break Earth’s atmospheric hood and, accidentally, make scorched land from lake and wood; I would, probably, let it fall on me right there where I stood; I would probably jump to it, even if it should destroy me — instantly, or — slowly, or — for good; I would let the great shock of mystery surprise me and just hope my love understood.

Scenario: “In astronomy, stellar classification is the classification of stars based on their spectral characteristics. The classification scheme of galaxies, quasars, and stars is one of the most fundamental in astronomy. The early cataloguing of stars and their distribution in the sky has led to the understanding that they make up…

A recent image of smoking rings around a particular double star system has raised a wave of publications in scientific journals and media: Here is the explanation from the NASA and “Nature/Astronomy”: Each ring was created when the two stars came close together and their stellar winds (streams of gas…

My Ukrainian channel once asked me the following question: Why does the Moon attract huge masses of water, causing tides, but does not attract dust in the atmosphere? The fact is that the tides don’t arise at all because the Moon simply pulls masses of water upward. That is, there…

Being the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, Ceres is 27% the size and 1.3% the mass of the Moon. Its surface gravity is 3% of the Earth’s acceleration, g. The last detail means that if we ever hold the Olympic Games on Ceres, high jumpers…

By Graham Lau, @cosmobiologist I recently had a bit of a shock when I learned that there are probably more people alive in the world who are younger than me than those who are older. …

Yesterday, I had a Q&A session with students in Brazil in which I was asked why science is important. I brought up two reasons. First, science is about collaboration and sharing of knowledge. In any country around the world, I have scientific colleagues that I can collaborate with. This mode…