Understanding the phases of the Moon | Astronomy.com
WEBAug 30, 2023 · There are eight distinct phases the Moon goes through. Beginning with New Moon, they are: New Moon: The New Moon phase marks the beginning of the lunar cycle. During this phase, the Moon is ...
Planets 101: What they are and how they form | Astronomy.com
WEBOct 18, 2023 · Planets arise from the remnants inside a protoplanetary disk that encircles a nascent star. Dust and gas within such disks slowly sticks together, forming the building blocks of planets, known as ...
Earth facts: Size, distance from the Sun, orbit | Astronomy.com
WEBOct 20, 2023 · Earth is the third planet from the Sun and takes 23 hours, 56 minutes to spin on its axis one time. Size: Earth has a diameter of 7,926 miles (12,756 kilometers). Distance from the Sun: Earth is ...
Black holes, explained by an astrophysicist - Astronomy Magazine
WEBDec 11, 2023 · A black hole is a region of universe where gravity is so outrageously strong that nothing, not even light, can escape. Once something enters a black hole by crossing an invisible boundary known as ...
Speed of light: How fast light travels, explained simply and clearly
WEBJan 23, 2024 · On one hand, the speed of light is just a number: 299,792,458 meters per second. And on the other, it’s one of the most important constants that appears in nature and defines the relationship of ...
Jupiter: Size, distance from the Sun, orbit | Astronomy.com
WEBApr 19, 2024 · Size: Eleven Earths would fit side by side across the face of Jupiter. It is the biggest planet in the solar system, and it has a diameter of 89,000 miles (143,000 kilometers). Distance from the ...
The Sun: Facts, size, and fate of Earth’s blazing star
WEBOct 18, 2023 · With a diameter of some 864,000 miles (1.39 million km), the Sun dwarfs any other object in our solar system. In fact, you could fit about 1.3 million Earths inside it. However, despite its ...
The science behind the Big Bang theory | Astronomy.com
WEBDec 18, 2023 · According to the theories of physics, one second after the Big Bang, the heat of the universe caused atoms to collide with enough force to create a ten billion degree soup of neutrons, protons ...
How vast is the universe? Unimaginably enormous - Astronomy …
WEBSep 26, 2023 · How large is the universe? Put simply, we don’t know. The best current estimate is that the universe’s diameter is at least 93 billion light-years. And if cosmic inflation is correct (a long ...
Everything you need to know about the Moon | Astronomy.com
WEBSep 7, 2023 · The Moon’s average distance from Earth is about 238,900 miles (384,400 km). However, this distance is not constant, as the Moon follows an elliptical orbit around Earth. When the Moon is closest ...