Unanswered Questions
227 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
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Potential energy in an expanding universe
A question you wonderful geniuses can hopefully answer. Imagine a piece of string drawn between two galaxies. Space between the galaxies is expanding. What force is being applied to the string? Where ...
- 31
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Deviations of conservation laws in the context of cosmological evolution?
If energy is "not conserved" in General Relativity (or at least, it is difficult to define it) in the context of an accelerating expanding spacetime (like it happens in our Universe), are ...
- 1,017
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Cosmic microwave background the same as the first visible light at 379,000 yrs after the Big Bang? How do these measure the age of the universe?
Was the CMB emitted at the same time as visible light at 379,000 yrs after the BB ? Was this a one time event ? If headed away from us, how does it measure the age of the universe?
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Pulsations in massive stars
Why are tidally induced pulsations not typical for massive binary stars? For which kind of binaries they are typical? I read it in the last but one paragraph in Discussion of https://iopscience.iop....
- 555
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How can a busy high school student get into learning Astronomy?
I'm a high school student that has loved physics for quite some time, but have only started dabbling with the more complex things. I know a fair bit about quantum mechanics and such as I like it, but ...
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What is the main difference between cyclotron, synchrotron, and gyrosynchrotron radiation?
How are these various types of radiation generated? What is the main difference between them? Can someone suggest a book related to these radiations?
- 15k
3
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Estimate the shape of an object based on flux curve
Is there an aproximation to know the shape of a dust cloud,etc based on the magnitude/flux curves of stars they transit? Example, can I know if the shape is (at least in 2 dimensions) elliptical, ...
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How to distinguish primary hosts (stars) and orbiting satellites (planets) and tertiary bodies (moons) by their mass and trajectory?
Suppose one has run a gravitational simulation of N bodies (has the mass, vector positions, vector velocities, etc for each body), but knows nothing a priori about ...
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How to determine the temperature of a star according to the strength of the line in the spectra?
Based on the comments, I have changed some things.
Below is a graph showing the relative strength of $H_\gamma$ and Fe I lines of two stars. Which star is hotter?
This is a question from the book:An ...
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What is the theoretical maximum variability a pulsating red giant can have such that a habitable planet can stay habitable for long periods of time?
I was reading about red giants and came across this statement:
Some research suggests that, during the evolution of a 1 M☉ star along the red-giant branch, it could harbor a habitable zone for ...
- 6,684
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Strength of core-envelope coupling in stars (again)
I asked this on the physics SE but it received little attention:
Consider a high-mass zero-age main-sequence (ZAMS) (e.g., $m_{\rm ZAMS} \gtrsim 30\,$M$_{\odot}$) star.
I understand that the core-...
- 4,533
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Why are CMB peak heights sensitive to the physical densities
A very simple question: why should it be that the CMB power spectrum allows constraints to be placed on the combination of parameters
$$\omega_c = \Omega_c h^2$$
$$\omega_b = \Omega_b h^2$$
as opposed ...
- 61
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379
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Why do some stars twinkle more than others?
This is a child's question I failed to answer. When observing some stars with naked eye, some stars (e.g. Regulus) appeared to blink significantly more than others, but I did not have the patience to ...
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Can mass loss via accretion occur on stellar remnants?
We know that normal stars can lose mass to a binary companion. But can this happen to neutron stars and white dwarfs? Let's say a stellar black hole is being orbited by a white dwarf or neutron star. ...
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New method for exoplanet detection based on iridescence?
Could it be possible to detect exoplanets that have an abundance of iridescent minerals by analyzing their star's spectra over time as the angle in observation would lead to changes in absorbed ...
- 30.7k