Astronomy Stack Exchange
Astronomy Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [observational-astronomy]

Questions about the techniques and practice of observing the night sky.

1386 questions
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How "fast" do astronomical events occur?

I've seen quite a few news about astronomy but I'm not deep into knowing how it works or how people observe it. It got me thinking: if I want to watch a supernova for example, how long will I have to look for it to watch the whole "event"? Or events…
Washington A. Ramos
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Was this video shot with a ground based hobby astronomer telescope?

I stumbled across this video capturing the rings of Saturn and wanted an expert opinion. This video of Saturn looks so good that I was wondering if it was really shot by a hobby astronomer's telescope or if it came from the James Webb or some other…
Substantialist_Jules
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Is the scaling in this composite photo of the moon and the Andromeda galaxy reasonably correct?

SEE BJV EDIT BELOW. I came across this image which purports to show what the size of the Andromeda galaxy would be in the night sky if we could see its dim stars with the naked eye. Is this image reasonably correct with respect to size? EDIT BJV…
BradV
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How can a mirror see things that the naked eye can’t?

How does a mirror pick up light from vast distances away? And, if that light can reach a mirror, why can’t we see that light?
John
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Why can you see the space station on some days but not on others?

In my area, from December 17th - 26th, you can see the space station every day, twice But from December 27th - January 6th, you can only see it twice My question is, why does it appear for almost the whole month of December, and then not appear…
aman207
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I'd like to become an astronomer. What experience do I need?

I think I'd like to become an astronomer. What degrees and training/experience do I need to become one? I've heard I should take science and mathematics, but I don't know which specific courses I should take and which degrees I would need to become…
Timtech
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Can Alpha Centauri be observed from Eilat Israel, and if so when and for how long?

Wikipedia states that Alpha Centauri is the third brightest star, outshone by only Sirius and Canopus, and can be observed from latitudes south of ABOUT 29°N. With Eilat listed at 29°33′25″N, are the 33′25″ within the range covered by the word…
C. Burns
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How do astronomers find interesting events?

I always wondered how those tiny dots representing moving stars or whatever forming an interesting event (supernova explosions, stars being sucked into black holes etc.) get caught in the huge solid angle of $4\pi$? It seems absolutely improbable to…
Ruslan
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When is optical refraction important in Astronomy? (beyond Earth's atmosphere)

What are commonly important astrophysical systems/models, where optical refraction is important or necessary to account for? I would kindly ask you not to consider refraction in Earth's atmosphere or inside instrumentation in this question. Comment:…
Alexey Bobrick
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What study profiles could land me the job of astronomer?

I realize there are very few to none universities that offer direct specialization of astronomy. If I aspired to be make astronomy my career choice, I'd likely have to pick something like physics and specialize later - or something similar - but…
SF.
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Would we have spotted the ascent stage of Apollo 11's Eagle if it was still in orbit around the Moon?

This video: Is Apollo 11's Lunar Module Still In Orbit Around The Moon 52 Years Later? claims, based on orbital simulations, that there is a chanche that the lunar module of Apollo 11 might be still orbiting the Moon. Is this claim reasonable from…
zabop
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Why is intensity not an observable quantity?

I found that in astronomy we usually use flux $F$ instead of intensity $I$ in observations. My teacher tells me it is because intensity is not a observable quantity. So why can we only measure flux, not intensity? $$ F =…
Firestar-Reimu
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Draw the celestial sphere for latitude, showing the star Sirius, Estimate the approximate date when Sirius rises with the Sun

I'm having trouble understanding how to solve a certain problem. The problem is from the book Astronomy: Principles and Practice by Roy and Clarke. It is actually a solved example, but I am unable to understand parts of the solution. Draw the…
T jey
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Seeing units, arcsec VS cm

I am very used to working with seeing in arcseconds, but sometimes I come across the seeing in cm, e.g. here. I have looked online for a way to convert from one to the other, but I can't find any. How would this be done?
Coolcrab
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Open data for satellites positions

Is there a site / service where I can get the data for the positions of satellites (I mean artificial satellite, ISS, etc.)? I know that some sites provide a visualization of these positions, but I'm only interested in the data. Thanks. Edit, for…
Romain Linsolas
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