# Ask the Space Geek



## OrbitalResonance (Sep 21, 2010)

This thread is for all you people who have questions regarding the Cosmos! Post your questions and I will do my best to answer them as accurately as possible! Anything from Stars to cosmography!! Anyone else can chime in to questions and discuss topics as well! I hope to have fun share some of this wonderful information i have locked up in my head!! I have loads of pictures/ and diagrams as well!

Random photo to kick off the thread!


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## alte (Sep 4, 2010)

What star is that in your avatar?


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## RyanJ (Mar 31, 2009)

Who is your favorite astrophysicist after Carl Sagan (kind of a space question :teeth)?


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## OrbitalResonance (Sep 21, 2010)

alte said:


> What star is that in your avatar?


18 Scorpii














> A nearby star that is virtually identical to the Sun.1 It has been ranked by SETI researchers Margaret TurnbullTarter in the top five stars in the solar neighborhood most likely to support life.
> 
> 18 Scorpii lies about 46 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius. It is a yellow main sequence star that closely matches the Sun in mass, luminosity, temperature, speed of rotation, surface activity, metallicity, and the fact that it is solitary. 18 Sco has a rotation period of 23 days (compared with 25.4 days for the Sun) and appears to be slightly younger than the Sun (4.2 billion years compared with 4.54 billion years). It is visible in the night sky close to the Scorpion's left claw.
> 
> In 2003, 18 Sco was chosen from a shortlist of 30 stars (screened from the 5,000 or so stars that are estimated lie within 100 light-years of Earth) that were presented to a group of scientists from the Terrestrial Planet Finder and the Darwin projects. The stars examined were selected from a larger list of 17,129 (of which 75 percent are located within about 450 light-years of the Sun) that were assembled into a _Catalog of Nearby Habitable Stellar Systems_ (HabCat) by Turnbull and Jill Tarter of the SETI Institute. See also Sunlike stars. and Jill


Source for info: http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/A/18Scorpii.html



> Who is your favorite astrophysicist after Carl Sagan (kind of a space question :teeth)?


I cant Decide between Stephen hawking and Neil DeGrass Tyson!!


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## coeur_brise (Oct 7, 2004)

what are currently the brightest stars hanging over the Northern part of the US? (Minnesota, I mean)


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## Neptunus (Oct 29, 2007)

What is the universe mostly composed of? (I'm not talking about elements, btw.)


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## Neptunus (Oct 29, 2007)

What is the "green flash" and where is it observed?


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## OrbitalResonance (Sep 21, 2010)

sanria22 said:


> what are currently the brightest stars hanging over the Northern part of the US? (Minnesota, I mean)


As of 8:42 Central time

Vega










Altair











Deneb













> What is the universe mostly composed of? (I'm not talking about elements, btw.)


The Universe is composed of 70% dark energy, 25% dark matter, 4% molecular hydrogen, almost 1% of stars and the rest is heavier elements.



> What is the "green flash" and where is it observed?


 A green flash is a reflection of light in the atmosphere when the sun sets and is enhanced by a mirage. Its an optical phenomenon.


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## alte (Sep 4, 2010)

Do you know any object located on the far side of the milky way?


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## Demerzel (Nov 13, 2003)

Since u like Carl Sagan & Stephen Hawking thought I'd post this song.


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## LostPancake (Apr 8, 2009)

Why is the universe so ****ing huge???

I know, it's currently unanswerable. But it boggles my mind.


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## zookeeper (Jun 3, 2009)




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## Neptunus (Oct 29, 2007)

ExplorerAtHeart said:


> The Universe is composed of 70% dark energy, 25% dark matter, 4% molecular hydrogen, almost 1% of stars and the rest is heavier elements.
> 
> A green flash is a reflection of light in the atmosphere when the sun sets and is enhanced by a mirage. Its an optical phenomenon.


Very good, and thanks "space geek!" :b


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## Neptunus (Oct 29, 2007)

What is a neutrino... and is it true that they can pass through planets?


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## Typical Guy (Mar 30, 2009)

What existed one second before the Big Bang?


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## Amocholes (Nov 5, 2003)

What is the answer to Life, the Universe and everything?


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## OrbitalResonance (Sep 21, 2010)

alte said:


> Do you know any object located on the far side of the milky way?


That area is obsucred!!












LostPancake said:


> Why is the universe so ****ing huge???
> 
> I know, it's currently unanswerable. But it boggles my mind.


Dunno but im glad it is!!




> What is a neutrino... and is it true that they can pass through planets?


Subatomic particles with no charge that travel close to the speed of light. They pass through everyhintg, they are so small they just pass through the empty spaces through atoms.



> What existed one second before the Big Bang?


Even Stephen Hawking doesn't know that. 



> What is the answer to Life, the Universe and everything?


*The answer to Life, the Universe and everything = 42*


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## Amocholes (Nov 5, 2003)

ExplorerAtHeart said:


> *The answer to Life, the Universe and everything = 42*


But what is the Question?


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## OrbitalResonance (Sep 21, 2010)

Amocholes said:


> But what is the Question?


Apparently 42.


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## Neptunus (Oct 29, 2007)

Name the "golden nosed" astronomer/alchemist.


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## OrbitalResonance (Sep 21, 2010)

Neptunus said:


> Name the "golden nosed" astronomer/alchemist.


Tycho Brahe


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## Amocholes (Nov 5, 2003)

ExplorerAtHeart said:


> Apparently 42.


*Incorrect!*

The question of Life, the Universe and everything, to which the answer is 42, is:

*What is 7 x 9?*

(There is something fundamentally wrong with the universe)


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## Belshazzar (Apr 12, 2010)

Dark matter. What the hell is it?


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## LostPancake (Apr 8, 2009)

Belshazzar said:


> Dark matter. What the hell is it?


Yeah, and what if it has as much structure as ordinary matter? Like dark matter galaxies and planets...


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## OrbitalResonance (Sep 21, 2010)

Dont know what dark matter is.... Yet.

Nice siggy Lost Pankake. lol

edit, article on space.com

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/dark-matter-dark-stars-mystery-101011.html


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## RyanJ (Mar 31, 2009)

ExplorerAtHeart said:


> I cant Decide between Stephen hawking and Neil DeGrass Tyson!!


Couldn't agree more.


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## Magen (Oct 31, 2010)

Hawkings new book.. the multi-verse theory.. you think that's going to be the proven model. I know time will tell, but its pretty nuts if that's the case.

certainly would give us all more anxiety if this life is happening * insert infinity symbol here *

lol.

*edit* just watched the video above.. gonna have to order a book or two from him- ty


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## kakashisensei (Oct 8, 2009)

What is the "String Theory"?


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## Amocholes (Nov 5, 2003)

kakashisensei said:


> What is the "String Theory"?


Any string, rope or cable of any kind will tangle itself up in knots, given 5 minutes on it's own.


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