Category Archives: Astronomy

All about astronomy: What it is, how the Solar System works, famous astronomers and more

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 →

What is Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion?

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Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion is the most famous of the three, but also the most misunderstood:  For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.  To understand what it means, place your hand against a wall, and push.  You are now applying a force to the wall through your hand, but your hand does not move.  Why?  Because the wall is exerting a reactionary force against the hand, exactly equal to your force, but in the opposite direction. … Continue reading →