Stellar distances are primarily determined by the inverse-square law of light, which mathematically links a star's apparent brightness (m), intrinsic brightness (absolute magnitude, M), and distance ...

Cepheid variable stars exhibit regular pulsations whose period directly correlates with their intrinsic brightness (absolute luminosity). The Leavitt law establishes this relationship between ...

A glance at the night sky above Earth shows that some stars are much brighter than others. However, the brightness of a star depends on its composition and how far it is from the planet. Astronomers ...

One of the trickiest problems in astronomy is the measure of distance. In theory, distance should be simple to work out. If you know the intrinsic brightness of an object, a simple measure of its ...

Elongation is the angle, in degrees, between the Sun and the planet as seen from here on the Earth. Superior planets (those that lie further from the Sun than us: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, ...

Russell drew a simple system of coordinates with x- and y-axes, familiar to schoolchildren from geometry lessons. On this diagram, he entered the stars according to their spectral type or temperature ...

Since May 24, 2019, SpaceX has been launching satellites into orbit 60 at a time to bolster the ranks of its Starlink megaconstellation – a fleet of networked sats flying in formation that, once ...

Humans have been utterly fascinated with the night sky and the millions of stars sprinkled throughout the huge expanse. Out of the numerous stars, some are brighter than others, and closer to the ...