Dear Urban Astronomer I recently received this presentation in an email. Apparently, Mars will look as big as the Moon on 27 August, because it will be closer to us than ever before in recorded history and will look as big as the Moon in the sky. Is this true? I was tempted to simply dismiss this as a joke. After all, it’s not like anybody still falls for this, right? Surely people remember seeing the same hoax this time … Continue reading →
Would finding the centre of the Universe help us understand our place in the Cosmos? In a previous article, I talked about the problem of trying to measure speeds in space. Because there are no fixed positions in the universe, there can be no such thing as an absolute, “real” speed. Even the ground beneath your feet is attached to a planet hurtling through space!. The very idea of speed simply means “The distance traveled, divided by the time it took … Continue reading →
Apparently the two most popular questions people like to ask astronauts are how the toilet works in zero gravity, and what the food is like. The answer to the first question is “reasonably well”, but the second deserves a little more time. Happily, this infographic recently landed in my mailbox from the good folks at Labely.com which looks at the evolution of food in space from Yuri Gagarin’s pioneering first orbit up till the modern meals served on the International Space … Continue reading →
Dear Urban Astronomer I recently read that the andromeda system is our closest neighbour. Apparently, our galaxy is on a crash course with the andromeda system. They make it sound like its going to happen in the next few decades. I was just curious how much bigger is andromeda? How close is it to us? And how close are we to impact. Thanks in advance, Drew Dear Drew First thing first, we are indeed on a collision course with the Andromeda … Continue reading →
Dear Urban Astronomer I am pregnant, and am worried that all these Blood Moons could harm my baby. I have asked around in my community, but everybody has their own scary story about what will happen to my baby if I go outdoors during the blood moon. Please let me know what precautions I must take. Yours, Hypothetical Reader The blood moon will not hurt your baby Okay so nobody actually mailed this question to me. But at the … Continue reading →
