Astronomy and Cosmology

Hi All, I Am Looking for a bit of information, as you might note my name i am At the moment attempting to write a book, and am researching for said novel, although it is Sci-Fi/Fantasy in Genre. For The Field of Astrophysics I am asking all those with knowledge of or theories on the behavior of gravity well when, or more importantly the plausibility of two same sized masses (eg. Two Earth Sized Planets) existing in the same gravity well without collision and at a close enough range so that their atmosphere's can at some points join, even if this is not possible at such a close range information on two same or very similar mass planetoids existing in orbit of each othe…

If dark matter would be actual matter that can block/filter light, would it not be possible that the measurements of the distance of stars is wrong? And would it not be possible that the theory of dark matter is wrong? Interstellar matter has a known composition. (Link to wikipedia). It can be relatively easily calculated that even if all dark matter is completely transparent, the actual dust and other matter in the universe becomes of significance when we talk about the brightness of the furthest objects. But if we're wrong in any of the assumptions in the interstellar matter table that I just linked to, and there is some real matter hanging somewhere in space…

Could it be possible nowadays to observe a large number of objects in the universe, at various distances from us, and keep track of the redshift that we measure to see if the objects are actually accelerating? I know that the acceleration will be difficult to measure, because in the course of a human lifetime, the relative change in velocity of the stars/galaxies will hardly be measureable. I know that we would be looking for tiny changes... But the possible data set is nearly infinite. If the dataset is large enough, even small changes can be determined with some degree of certainty. Imho, this would be a more direct method to support the theory of the accel…

Hi, I'm a sophomore in college, but credit wise still a freshman I believe. I really love Astronomy and Physics but I'm just not much of a math guy. However I do really LOVE the science aspects of studying planets. I would love to study things such as the composition of planets when I get out of school, including our own planet. But I'd also really like to be able to for instance study the proposed sub-surface oceans on Titan and other planets, and their moons, asteroids and so on (quite the ambitious, perhaps unrealistic expectations I know.) Considering that, would I be better off studying Environmental Science as a major while I'm in school, or should I major in As…

We have atmosphere which covers our solid Earth. And sea water height is affected by the gravity of the Sun and moon. But till now, I have never heard about atmosphere thickness is affected by the gravity of the Sun and moon. Is our Earth atmosphere thickness not affected by the Sun and moon?

I read it all of the time in articles, about stars that "are from a time right after the big bang'. With so many tens and hundreds of billions of light years of space outside the visible universe, just how is it that anybody is able to see what should be dead information? If a star is supposedly 13b lya now, then it was probably 7b lya when a given snapshot was taken, give or take a few, and the difference is made up by the expansion of space over time. And if we can't see them now, then supposedly the james webb will help us see this first generation of occurrences, but i just don't see it because these things that happened 13b ya happened when the universe was only a…

How would the gravitational influence of the [relatively] nearby passage of a stellar mass affect our system? As a system, rather than as individual components (I imagine the direct effect on Sol would be moderately significant ). Would the system possibly precess under the right circumstances? Thanks!

We've heard that the size amplification of the far away galaxys is the cause of the DM existence. How to make this phenomena? Any good opinion?

I have heard there are many dust wind in the desert. At that time , I think, fine and dry particles are floating around in the air. Are there any record about dust explosion in the desert?

Could someone explain this news story to me : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/20/two-suns-twin-stars_n_811864.html How does a star going supernova some 1300 light years away cause our Sun to double, and night to be non-existent?

Oh no!, We're all in trouble now, somebody just bought me a subscription to Astronomy Magazine. Ahgggg! Seriously, Here on page 12 of the new Febuary issue I'm reading about the great "Fine Structure Constant" that is always, no matter what, always equal to 1/137. Until now. Back in 1998 astophysicist in New Zealand studied some light from distant quazars as it passed through ancient nebulae. The way the light was absorbed revealed the value of the great constant long ago. They found that in the distant past the constant was slightly smaller than it is today. This info was in large part ignored and rejected until a few months ago when things got real screwy! …

There is a theory about Earth's magnetic fields origin. But, how about this origin theory possibility, i.e., nuclear reaction in the core? I think the nuclear reaction makes heat and radiation, and the heat and radiation make electric current in the Earth inside. The electric current movement induces the Earth's magnetic fields. And, the heat generated from the nuclear reaction induces the Earth cluster movement, and the movement caused to volcanic eruption and earth quake. This is one possibility.

Our Galaxy is moving some direction, and emits light to all directions. If so, dose our Galaxy have another interface like Heliosphere?

From simplistic assumptions of circular orbits, dominant central masses, etc., one can derive, from Newton's laws, Kepler's equations, including: [math]\frac{\left( \frac{r}{1 \, AU} \right)^3}{\frac{m}{M_{\odot}}} = \left( \frac{t}{1 \, yr} \right)^2[/math] Now, knowing that [math]1 \, ly \approx 64,000 \, AU[/math], cubing that value on the LHS, moving the result (~2.6e14) to the RHS, and calculating the square root, wht: [math]\frac{\left( \frac{r}{1 \, ly} \right)^3}{\frac{m}{M_{\odot}}} = \left( \frac{t}{16 \, Myr} \right)^2[/math] Thus, if the mass of the Local Group is roughly [math]5 \times 10^{12} M_{\odot}[/math] (PF), and if its 'effective rad…

While metal detecting in and around a small creek, I came across this. At first I could only guess at what it may be. One of my guesses was a meteorite. I looked up other images and it does resemble some of them. Also, a day or two later while looking at it, it dawned on me, that it looked like it could have been a Native American cutting tool. So by gripping it, you can feel that it fits comfortably in your hand, exposing the sharp edge ready for cutting. Now whether it is a meteorite or not is still up for debate and any insight would be helpful. But I'm quite confident it has been used as a cutting tool. Anybody? ">">

If the moon orbits the earth, and the earth orbits the sun, what does the sun orbit? Does it directly revolve around the milky way or does it orbit an even bigger star?

(acording to popular and accepted theories in the scientific community) Is time a one dimensional entity? I've heard that space is made up of length, width, depth, and time making it a four dimensional entity, But isn't time itself three dimensional, being past, present, and future? If time is three dimensional then would'nt each instance have similar but seperate attributes makeing space/time a six dimensional entity?

Do these have a orbital difference turning around the sun between the Earth which contains Earth plus Moon mass and the Earth which has separated mass like present?

Mercury is a prime example of a dead planet, and Mars could well soon join its ranks. If any hope of enhabiting Mars one day is to be achieved, we should look into reviving it. The two problems that REALLY need to be fixed to save it, is recreating a Magnetic field, and improving the atmosphere. The Magnetic Field is produced through all the nickal and iron in its core correct? Well, how does the core diminish in the first place? And How can we stuff iron and nickel back inside the core? The Atmosphere is useless without the Magnetic Field. But an Atmosphere is created through Volcanos correct? Well, how can we CREATE artificial volcanos? Or just fool the environment into…

Scientist describe the big bang theory as starting out a mere speck of near infinite density. A very poetic statement but not very scientific. Within an infintie scale everyting is realtive. Exactly what are they saying? At some point within an infinite scale, a neutron star is no more dense than bubble wrap. It's all matter of relative perspective. They describe a universe that started off smaller than the head of a pin, and expanded to it's present size and it is still expanding. Within an infinite scale of size, it is still smaller than the head of a pin. It's all a matter of relative perspective. Scientist say that outside of the speck, nothing existed. No spa…

I've heard that the Saturn has a storm. But there is no water to drive storm making. In the Earth, the liquification of the water vapor is a big driving force for a storm creation. How is a storm made in the Saturn? Do you have any clue?

1. Underlying all of modern cosmological theory (The Standard Model) is the assumption that the observed cosmos is part of a singular coherent entity, the Universe. There is no scientific basis for this belief; it is merely an archaic cultural artifact. 2. It is a further assumption of modern cosmology that the observed cosmological redshift of light from distant galaxies is a consequence of the expansion of the assumed 'Universe'. This further assumption is also unsupported by any empirical evidence. 3. Combining these two scientifically baseless assumptions cosmologists reason backwards to an origin point for the entire 'Universe' at a singularity some 13 billio…

If I was an outside observer and noticed that two galaxies were farther apart from each other today than they were yesterday, is there some way to determine if they are farther apart due to expansion, motion through space, or some combination of the two? Is it possible to measure the decrease in density of space between galaxies separating due to expansion?

In round numbers, a lunar sidereal month (360 degrees rotation, not the same as New Moon to New Moon), is 28 days, and there are almost exactly 13 such sidereal months per Earth orbital year. Might this mean, that the Earth-Moon system, is "semi-locked", into some sort of "orbital resonance", between their mutual orbit (4 weeks), and mutual solar orbit (52 weeks) ??

The Universe radiates much electromagnetic waves to all direction. So the mass should be decreased at every second. Can we calculate the total mass? And, how about the decrease rate per second?