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Ask an Astronomer

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What causes gamma ray bursts?

January 17, 2025

Over the last decade, conclusive evidence has been uncovered that at least some gamma ray bursts are associated with supernovae Some gamma ray bursts are observed to have...

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Admin Owl
Gamma Ray Bursts
Legacy
Neutron Stars
Supernovae
CategoriesCategories:
Intermediate
Supernovae

What’s the difference between astronomy and astrology?

January 17, 2025

Astrology is a pseudo-science which claims that the positions of the heavenly bodies have an effect on the lives of human beings and events on Earth A long time ago, astronomy...

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Admin Owl
Beginner
CategoriesCategories:
Observational Astronomy
The History Of Astronomy

Solar eclipses are not perfect with the moon’s size being slightly smaller and getting smaller as the moon moves further away from earth. Was there ever a time in history that it was perfect, with the moon’s apparent size being the exact same as the sun? If so, when?

January 17, 2025

The Moon is indeed slowly getting further and further away from Earth  But that's not the whole story  The Moon's orbit is slightly oval, so its distance is constantly changing...

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Admin Owl
Eclipses
The Moon
CategoriesCategories:
Lunar & Solar Eclipses
Our Solar System
Stargazing
The Earth
The Moon
The Sun

The previous version of the website had more (a lot more) questions and answers. Most of those are not in the current version of the website. Will they be brought online?

January 17, 2025

Thanks for your interest in our website!  Unfortunately, the Ask an Astronomer service lapsed over the past few years, and we had to move to this domain to re-establish it  This...

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Admin Owl
Legacy
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Is the center of a black hole the point of maximum density, or absolute density?

January 17, 2025

This question is surprisingly complicated!  You may have heard something about the black hole's center, often called the singularity Mathematically, the density goes to...

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Admin Owl
Black Holes
General Relativity
Relativit
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