A wide open space (It could be your backyard or a park.) Two Hula-Hoops (Alternatively, you could use two flat rocks or bricks that you can sit on.) A yardstick or meterstick (Use one that has clear ...

Let’s try a demonstration that we all enjoyed in elementary school. Close one eye, hold out your thumb at arm’s length, and align it with an object on the other side of the room. Without moving your ...

Have you ever wondered how astronomers measure the distance to other objects in the universe? How do they make claims that this nebula is 1,500 light years distance or that galaxy is 2.5 million light ...

It isn't easy to measure the distance of stars. We can't travel to them, counting the miles as we go, nor can we simply say that brighter stars are closer and dimmer ones more distant. Instead, we ...

For the first time, astronomers have directly measured the distance to a spot clear across the galaxy. The established but challenging technique promises a new way to map the structure of the Milky ...

A team of astronomers has used asteroseismology, or the study of stellar oscillations, to accurately measure the distance of stars from the Earth. Their research examined thousands of stars and ...

When we saw the print version of Baratunde Thurston’s Fast Company cover story about his 25 days away from the internet, we knew we had to do something special online. Here’s how Fast Company ...

How do scientists calculate the distance from Earth to a star or galaxy? originally appeared on Quora - the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique ...

For most of us, the countless bright spots in the nighttime sky all seem to be stars. But in fact, some of those spots are actually planets, or distant suns, or even entire galaxies located billions ...