Astroquizzical

> “Spiral galaxies: they seem to appear in both right- and > left-handed spirals. Does that mean we are seeing the “top” of > some and “bottoms” of others? Or�...

https://astroquizzical.com/astroquizzical/2022/2/3/are-we-seeing-some-galaxies-upside-down

> “As I understand it the Earth’s metallic core is still molten. > Does the Moon have a metallic core that’s not molten and cooled? > With the Moon’s metallic c...

https://astroquizzical.com/astroquizzical/2021/4/25/6k8az7jpza6v6ug75n2qufgbrc3yv9

Lava cascades from Mauna Ulu flowing down into Alae crater, Kilauea, Hawaii, United States. Image credit: USGS . Generally speaking, the answer to this one is yes: and we have a bit of a hi...

https://astroquizzical.com/astroquizzical/2021/2/14/is-a-star-hotter-than-lava

> “Hello and thank you for enlightening our minds. I have a very > important question that triggers non stop my mind. Can someone > standing in South Africa see the ...

https://astroquizzical.com/astroquizzical/2020/9/12/how-much-overlap-is-there-between-the-night-skies-of-someone-in-sweden-and-south-africa

> “ Given some of the popular literature depicting the Milky Way’s > black hole as being “massive”, how does that square with the > concept of a singularity bein...

https://astroquizzical.com/astroquizzical/2019/9/2/if-black-holes-are-infinitely-tiny-how-come-we-talk-about-them-as-having-a-size

> “ I’m watching a show on Netflix called Nightflyers and it got me > thinking. Every time I watch a show about space travel, they all > depict the space crafts c...

https://astroquizzical.com/astroquizzical/2019/3/17/how-realistic-is-it-to-have-spacecraft-brightly-illuminated-when-journeying-the-solar-system

This picture of the Earth and Moon in a single frame was taken by the Galileo spacecraft from about 3.9 million miles away. Antarctica is visible through clouds (bottom). The Moon's far side is s...

https://astroquizzical.com/astroquizzical/2019/2/5/is-the-far-side-of-the-moon-dark

> “In writings about the Big Bang, there are discussions of what > happened in the first picosecond, billionth of a picosecond, etc., > etc. My question is: what is t...

https://astroquizzical.com/astroquizzical/2019/1/20/when-we-talk-about-the-universes-first-second-what-do-we-really-mean

> “Is there lightning on Mars? Would lightning strikes endanger > astronauts on Mars? Would static electricity be a factor to consider > on Mars?” An astronaut orbiting o...

https://astroquizzical.com/astroquizzical/2018/12/28/is-there-lightning-on-mars

> “What would happen if the amount of light reaching the earth from > the sun were cut in half?” The position of the Habitable Zone, as a function of the mass of the star the...

https://astroquizzical.com/astroquizzical/2018/10/22/what-would-happen-if-the-amount-of-light-reaching-the-earth-from-the-sun-were-cut-in-half

> “How does that two sun thing work in Star Wars: A New Hope? Is that > possible?” This artist's concept shows a hypothetical planet covered in water around the binary star sys...

https://astroquizzical.com/astroquizzical/2018/10/8/is-it-possible-to-have-a-planet-orbit-two-stars-like-tatooine

> “My roommate and I were in a heated debate that lead us to read > your post about the ability to survive the end of Portal 2. However, > our question is slightly...

https://astroquizzical.com/astroquizzical/2018/8/19/how-long-would-it-take-to-deflate-the-earths-atmosphere-into-space

Your friendly neighborhood astrophysicist recently wrote an opinion piece for Physics World, on how I approach writing answers to your many questions.  Read the full article here on Physics wo...

https://astroquizzical.com/astroquizzical/2018/8/23/physics-world-op-ed

> “If supermassive black holes are so bad at feeding from the stars > around them, how did they get so big?” This illustration shows a glowing stream of material from a sta...

https://astroquizzical.com/astroquizzical/2018/8/14/if-black-holes-are-so-bad-at-growing-how-do-we-get-supermassive-black-holes

> “What is the biggest known planet in the Universe?” VLT NACO image, taken in the Ks-band, of GQ Lupi. The feeble point of light to the right of the star is the newly found cold comp...

https://astroquizzical.com/astroquizzical/2018/8/4/what-is-the-biggest-known-planet-in-the-universe

> “If it is impractical to provide an artificial magnetosphere on the > ship which would travel to Mars (due to cosmic ray cascades in the > material of the ship), w...

https://astroquizzical.com/astroquizzical/2018/7/1/if-we-cant-build-a-magnetic-bubble-for-a-spacecraft-how-about-a-magnetic-tunnel

> “Hi! It might be a dumb question but it’s been in my mind for a > while. We are convinced that North is up and South is down because > that’s the way maps ...

https://astroquizzical.com/astroquizzical/2018/6/15/why-do-we-always-think-of-north-as-up

Today's the day! If you live in the US, you should be able to get hardback copies of ASTROQUIZZICAL wherever books are sold! If you'd like to see some reviews first, I've compiled a few , also ...

https://astroquizzical.com/astroquizzical/2018/6/12/hardbacks-have-arrived-to-the-us

> “If there is water on the Moon, will it be on the surface or will > it be within the ground?” This is a spectacular high-Sun view of the Mare Tranquillitatis pit crater r...

https://astroquizzical.com/astroquizzical/2018/4/29/where-is-the-moons-water

> “How do black holes get started?” This artist's impression shows the orbits of three of the stars very close to the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way. The position...

https://astroquizzical.com/astroquizzical/2018/3/31/how-do-black-holes-get-started