Space & Astronomy
Exploring "Why" questions about Space & Astronomy
480 articles
why do batteries start working again if I roll them or turn the device off and on?
A little bit of corrosion can build up between the contacts and the battery preventing electricity from moving through. Spinning or scratching them removes the corrosion and you get a fresh contact ar
Why are there news stories saying there are millions starving in America when I see so many well fed homeless people?
Not every starving person is homeless. There are people who own a house/rent an apartment, have a car, and are still not reliably able to put food on the table, if that makes sense. They have income a
Why doesn’t/can’t NASA gain sponsorships in order to fund projects?
Our government is already too much for sale. If we open open up an agency like NASA to private sponsorship(NASA presents the Red Bull Gives you Wings mission to object THX1138) then we open up a can o
Why do fake phone numbers start with 555?
Because no real phone number start with that prefix. This means shows can use a number without accidentally giving out a real person's number - 8675309.
Why does global warming cause the sea levels to rise, if water takes up more space as ice anyway?
Two factors. One, ice on land is melting, and that water runs downhill into the ocean. Two, and more important, while ice takes up more space than an equivalent amount of water, warmer water takes up
Why doesn’t the moon eventually collide with Earth or drift away?
It is very slowly drifting away at like 4mm per year or something. We can measure this with lasers and what is essentially a mirror that was placed on the surface. Edit sorry > "The Moon continues
Why do solar panels generate more power during an ending solar eclipse than during a normal day where the sun isn’t partially covered by the moon?
The solar eclipse occurred in the morning. During a normal morning the amount of solar energy generated would rise as the amount of daylight increases towards midday. Therefore the sunlight will provi
Why does building a robot like the mars rover cost so much money?
Are you talking about the Curiosity rover that is said to have cost $2.5 billion? If so, some clarification might be warranted. NASA spread the $2.5 billion figure over eight years.
Why do “forever storms” seem to exist in some planets like Jupiter (And now Stars)? How do they stay “forever” and not die?
They're not forever. Jupiter's storm is losing it's energy and will die out eventually. I think it's been overdue for almost a decade, but I'll let someone else find the literature on it.
why flat maps of the Earth are so hard to do?
Because the earth isn't flat. Take an orange, and peel it so that you have one big flat piece. That's the exact same problem.