Astronomy

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Astronomy Questions and Answers

What causes the phases of the Moon?

What is the color of the sun?

How many moons does the sun have?

Why do we live on earth? Why can't we live on other planets??

Why is the solar system called a system?

What is the most commonly accepted theory on how the universe was formed?

Explain why the Moon exerts a greater tidal influence on the Earth than the Sun.

How are the expanding universe and the Doppler effect related to one another?

what is the difference between black holes and neutron stars?

How might a major asteroid impact have caused a mass extinction of the Earth's plant and animal species at certain times in the geologic past?

What did Nicolaus Copernicus contribute to science? Did he further human knowledge of the solar system or did he further human knowledge of the reproductive system?

Please explain how the greenhouse effect works on Venus.

How far away in parsecs is the star Spica if its parallax is 0.0120”? How far away is Spica in light-years and in Astronomical Units (AU)?

Why does Venus rotate in the opposite of all other planets?

How does a space shuttle land on the moon after taking off from the Earth?

What is the most volcanically active body in the solar system?

What role did the "frost line" play in the outer planets growing so much more massive than the inner planets?

What is the distance between Andromeda and Milkyway Galaxy?

Describe and show how the Earth's temperature structure would change in each of the following two cases.  Describe how the temperature graph would appear different, and why these changes would occur.  Include a sketch of the revised temperature graph in each case. a) If the Sun was producing no X-rays? b) If the Sun was producing more ultraviolet light?

Is there gravity in outer space? Explain.

How are Astronomical Units different from Light-Years?

What is the primary evidence that a large asteroid impact is associated with the extinction of the dinosaurs? a. a world-wide layer of iridium which appears to have been created about 65 million years ago b. several giant craters all around the planet c. a 180 degree reversal of the Earth's magnetic field at the end of the creteous period d. no evident has been found, it is a completely unsubstantiated claim.

Why should humans study astronomy?

Given: G=6.67259 x 10^-11 N m^2/kg^2 Mimas, a moon of Saturn, has an orbital radius of 1.88 x 10^8 m and an orbital period of about 23.48 h. Use Newton's version of Kepler's third law and these data to find the mass of Saturn. Answer in units of kg.

How can you find the Little Dipper and/or the Big Dipper in the night sky? I live in Denver, CO and sometimes when I look up at the night sky I always try to find the little dipper or the big dipper.

Explain why the intensity of light from the Cepheid variable changes?

Why do planets have to rotate on their own axis?

Briefly describe the origin of the universe.

True or false? Pluto was designated as a dwarf planet in the year 2006.

What did Newton discover about gravity? Multiple Choice: A) Any force on a planet would be directed along its path B) all objects near the Earth free fall with the same acceleration C) Gravity only happens on Earth D) Gravity is universal, which means it is not a phenomenom unique to Earth E) the stars, planets, and moon move in divine circles

How many moons does each planet have?   name of the moons

How many moons does Saturn have?

What evidence exists that the universe is changing?

What are the major life-supporting factors on Earth?

Even with infinitely powerful telescopes, we can look back in time only until: when galaxies were first formed.  when hydrogen and helium were formed.  when gravity was quantum mechanical.  the time of recombination.

How do astronomers measure the distance between two celestial bodies?

Which star is nearest to the Earth?

Describe the sun's atmosphere.

How many moons does Mercury have?

The Sun is about 300,000 times as massive as the Earth. Calculate the radius of the Sun's orbit about its common center of mass with Earth. How big would the radius of the Sun's orbit appear if the solar system were viewed from a distance of 1 pc?

Why is the moon moving away from the sun?  

I was watching When Aliens Attack on National Geographic. If aliens are so smart with all their technology, I feel like they would be smart enough to attack us before our technology evolved like it has.

What is the retrograde motion of Mars?

Mercury is .387 times Earth's distance from the Sun, Pluto is 39.53 times the Earth's distance from the Sun. If the Sun has an angular diameter of .5 degrees as seen from the Earth, what is the Sun's angular diameter as seen from Mercury? From Pluto? 

What is the significance of the Gliese 581 star system?  

Comets Why do comets have tails? Why do the tails point away from the Sun? 

During a solar eclipse,the moon(of mass 7.36x10^22kg), Earth(of mass 5.98x10^24kg), and Sun(of mass 1.99x10^24) lie on the same line, with the moon between Earth and the Sun. What gravitational force is exerted on the moon by the Sun? The universal gravitational constant is 6.673 x 10^-11 N times m^2/ kg^2, the Earth-moon distance is 3.84 x 10^8 m, and the Earth-Sun distance is 1.496 x 10^11 m. Answer in units of N. What gravitational force is exerted on the moon by Earth? Answer in units of N. What gravitational force is exerted on Earth by the Sun? Answer in units of N.

Two stars are observed in the sky. Star A appears 2.5 times brighter than star B, and star A is 4 times nearer than star B. Which star is more luminous, and by how much is it more luminous than the other?

Why is the universe so vast, huge and immense?

Why does the Earth move from west to east?