To answer this question in simple terms, we have to say that the universe is everything. That’s correct, the universe is everything human beings believes exists – all physical matter that we can touch and see, all the energy as we understand it, all of time and space.
People sometimes refer to the universe as all [...]

It is easy enough to come up with a number that will tell us how far the Moon is from the Earth. The distance is stated as an average – 238,857 miles or 384,403 kilometers. It’s the closest celestial body, since the stars we see in the night sky and the sun that warms the [...]

Many people will go through their entire lives without hearing anything about the Norway Spiral. Most people are aware of the Earth’s Moon and most people know about Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights). Many people know about the stars and the various constellations in their night sky. But it’s a safe bet only a few have [...]

When asked this question, astronomers and science teachers give a two part answer. Of course, there is only one star that is closest to the Earth so there is only one correct answer – the Sun. But people who ask this question aren’t considering the Sun as a “star.” They are seeking the closest star [...]

All the stars in the Milky Way galaxy (which contains our Sun, Earth and the other planets) are millions of miles away from the Earth. On clear nights, when there isn’t a lot of man-made light to interfere it seems that the stars are very close. The Sun, which is also a star, is relatively [...]

This is one of those subjects on which people will disagree. Why? Simply because we can’t actually count the exact number of stars in the universe. In fact, it is impossible to count the stars that make up our particular solar system. There is general agreement among astronomers that there are billions of stars in [...]

If we answer this question in scientific terms, an educated guess would be about 4.5 billion years. A number of different methods have been tried to get to the truth about the age of our planet, with some of the “evidence” coming into play as theory only. (We are staying away from the religious/scientific issue [...]

Stars are, in general terms, millions of miles away from Earth. Yet we can stand outside on a night when the air is clear and see hundreds of stars. Many of these seem to “twinkle,” a term that implies slight changes in the amount of light. But is are the stars getting brighter then dimmer [...]