Starship Asterisk*

So is it no longer possible to get a serious answer to a serious question here?

Is there evidence -- pro or con -- of any planets orbiting Betelgeuse? Thanks.

I see a "small" chicken with a yellow beak located just where the blue transitions into the yellow and orange. The chicken is facing toward 11 o'clock. Amazing what the power of suggestion can do.

Regarding SpaceCadet's question about life surviving on Mars, it might be helpful to explore what we know about the world of extremophiles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extremophile .

Anybody know whether other, similar holes have been found on Mars, and if so how many?

Have any other similar holes been found on Mars? If so, how many?

I have two questions for anyone who is more knowledgeable about technical details of the simulation: 1.) does the simulation appear accurately to represent the current state of the universe insofar as we're able to discern? 2.) If the answer to the first question is "yes," then what happen...

My earlier post here didn't generate a response, so I'm trying again (if at first you don't succeed, etc.). This APOD raises one request for clarification and a couple of questions: the text refers to an earth-based detection of methane on Mars in 2003, but the article to which this claim is linked ...

This APOD raises at least one request for clarification and a couple of questions: the text refers to an earth-based detection of methane on Mars in 2003, but the article to which this claim is linked is dated 2009 (please see https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3574 ). Since earth-based detection of methane ...

Question: if two galaxies -- each of which has a black hole at its center -- merge, what is current thinking about the fate of the black hole at the center of the smaller of the two galaxies? Where does it end up? And what havoc does it cause over the course of the merger?

While hating to rain on Elon Musk's parade, I have to say that one thing this Falcon Heavy "demonstration launch" truly demonstrates is just how out of touch billionaires such as Musk are with the real world in which they live. Rather than sending his car into space, Musk could have sold i...

Suspect it should have been "twice as close as Mercury," i.e., half the distance as Mercury. Words do matter, especially in science!

Can anyone offer an explanation for the amazingly uniform, almost leather-like nature of the terrain underlying the ice sheet? Thanks!

Thank you, Art Neuendorffer and Chris Peterson, for your helpful explanations! Mystery explained!

Maybe I'm just being dense here, but I'm confused/puzzled by the discussion for this APOD; if the orbital period of the comet is 5.4 years, why has it been sighted so infrequently (1858, 1907, and 1951)?

Ann, Art, and Chris,
Thanks to all three of you for your very helpful comments! Makes me a wee bit ashamed, however, that I didn't do a little more research (e.g., Wikipedia) before posing my question! Thanks again for your patience and help.

Chris Peterson and Art Neuendorffer, Thanks for your helpful explanations of what's going on here. It leads me to wonder now, however, why we do sometimes see spherical planetary nebulae? Apparently different initial conditions? Can we learn anything worthwhile from comparing these two different var...

Art Neuendorffer, thank you for this great reply! It makes sense of what otherwise seemed odd, indeed!

Could anyone please offer a science-based explanation for the apparently more-or-less bi-polar nature of the star's ejected material (as opposed to it being more spherical in nature)? Thanks!

Am I mistaken in wondering whether the bright butterfly-shaped nebula is below and right of center rather than above and left of center? Perhaps the image was inverted?

I recall recently seeing an image similar to this, but showing the Milky Way and having an arrow pointing to the place of our solar system in the galaxy. Not sure if it was an APOD or other. Have searched the APOD archive for it, but thus far without success. If anyone can provide a link to this im...

I recall recently seeing an image similar to this, but showing the Milky Way and having an arrow pointing to the place of our solar system in the galaxy. Not sure if it was an APOD or other. Have searched the APOD archive for it, but thus far without success. If anyone can provide a link to this ima...

Thank you. (Had the original write-up stated that the star gained sufficient mass that its core crossed the threshold of CARBON fusion this clarification would not be needed.)

Sorry, but I find this write-up confusing. Stars routinely are powered by nuclear fusion reactions, so what is meant by saying that the star gained so much mass that its core crossed the threshold of nuclear fusion?

Perfect!