Q&A 125 Can Stars Orbit So Close They're Touching? And More...
In this week's questions show, I explain how it's possible for stars to orbit so closely they're actually touching. What are the limits to gravitational slingshots, and how astronomers know where to point their telescopes in the Universe.
You can also watch the video here:
Comments (4)
It is amazing that we can pick up a gravity wave at all. How are scientists able to tell the origin event? For example, they might detect a wave and they say it is caused by two black holes merging. They even know the mass of each black hole. How the heck do they know the event with such precision?
Hi Tom, there are multiple detectors on Earth which can triangulate the source of a gravitational wave.
Great Q&A show, thank you, Fraser!
On the subject of comets, is it just me, or are we seeing a lot more comets lately than in the past? I mean, I seem to remember that we were lucky to have one in our neighborhood once every decade or so, and we've had three in the past couple of months! What's up with that?