Category Archives: Astronomy 101

One of my main goals is to try and share a bit of knowledge and understanding about the incredible universe. I have been steadily writing and posting various articles to explain and educate the masses (that’s you, dear reader!) a bit more about some of the science behind the hobby. An urban astronomer might never see most of the things we talk about here, but it’s still good to know about them.

What is antimatter?

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Antimatter is just like normal matter, except that the particles that make it up are the opposite versions of the particles which make up regular matter. As you should know, everything physical in the universe is made up of atoms, and those atoms are made of protons, neutrons and electrons.  These particles have a number of properties (mass, spin, etc) including charge.  An electron has negative charge, and the amount of charge is exactly the same for every electron in … Continue reading →

Can you get a spaceship through a Black Hole?

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Dear Urban Astronomer   I read your article about black holes and I have some questions:1. Is it possible to protect a space ship from enormous gravitational force from a black hole with a repulsive magnetic field?2. What really happen with a space ship when approaches event horizon.I mean information can pass from this point further why not matter as is our space ship?  And where goes the information, in another universe, in another time of our universe or in … Continue reading →

Orionids

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  Like all comets, Halley’s Comet leaves a diffuse trail of dust and gravel in space, following along in the same orbit.  Twice each year, Earth passes through this trail and as the various bits of debris collide with our atmosphere and briefly flare before burning up, we get a meteor shower.  The first of these showers is called the Eta Aquarids and happens in March, while the second happens in October and is called the Orionids. The first meteors of … Continue reading →

What is a Light Year?

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First, a light year is a measure of distance and not time – a lot of people make that mistake.  So how far is a light year then?  It is the distance that a beam of light travels in a year.  Since light moves at a speed of three hundred million meters per second, a light year is quite far:  just over 9.46 trillion kilometers.  Because that number is simply too big for any human brain to really understand, try … Continue reading →

Perseids

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The Perseid meteor shower is a very long-lasting shower, running for almost an entire month and radiating from the  constellation Perseus.  People have been watching the Perseids for about 2000 years, and the shower is sometimes referred to as the Tears of St Lawrence, since the shower was at its peak when he was martyred by the Romans in the year 258 AD.  Individual meteors from this shower are particularly fast moving, entering the atmosphere at speeds of over sixty … Continue reading →