Is dew point or relative humidity more important for good astronomical seeing?
This view from the GOES-East satellite’s band 8 shows the atmosphere above the continental U.S. imaged at 6.2 microns, in ...
Read moreDetailsTag: Ask Astro
Do black holes exist forever?
Back to Article List In 1974, Stephen Hawking proposed that black holes can evaporate. Hawking radiation, proposed by Stephen Hawking, ...
Read moreDetails
Was there ever a planet between Mars and Jupiter?
Back to Article List From the April 2025 issue It is highly unlikely a planet ever existed in this location, ...
Read moreDetails
What is the difference between a 2″ eyepiece and a 1¼” eyepiece?
Back to Article List From the March 2025 issue A 2" eyepiece delivers a wider true field of view than ...
Read moreDetails
Do Saturn’s rings cast shadows?
This dramatic image of the ring shadows on Saturn was taken by Cassini July 16, 2005, when the rings were ...
Read moreDetails
What will happen to the solar system when the Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxy merge?
Back to Article List From the February 2025 issue Predictions are uncertain, but the solar system may be pushed farther ...
Read moreDetails
Why do the solar system’s planets have different compositions?
Back to Article List From the February 2025 issue While the composition of gas and dust in a molecular cloud ...
Read moreDetails
After our Sun becomes a white dwarf and cools completely, what will be left?
Back to Article List From the January 2025 issue Our white dwarf Sun will cool for billions upon billions of ...
Read moreDetails
Does a comet’s period change because it loses mass every time it nears the Sun?
Several bright jets spew from the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko as ices on the nucleus turn to gas. This image ...
Read moreDetails
Where is the solar system heading?
Back to Article List The Sun, the planets, and all the other flotsam and jetsam that constitute the solar system ...
Read moreDetails
