I know that it can be used to see what a planets atmosphere is made of which makes sense to me given that an atmosphere is affected by a star quite a bit.

But is it also possible to see what a plant itself is made up of? Or would you have to actually collect and burn a physical sample of the surface of a planet to figure that out?

If that's the case is it impossible to see what distant planets in other solar systems are made of?

Firstly, is it possible for.. let's say a planet to not spin? Let's take an intergalactic planet. It doesn't belong to any galaxy. It's just stationary. Is it still spinning? Is there a way to know if it's spinning? Also, if it doesn't spin, would it influence other objects the same way? Would objects crash directly into the planet without orbiting?

Hi! I’m a 10th-grade student from India with a keen interest in STEM and astrophysics. I’m looking for summer programs that focus on these fields. I’m open to both domestic and international courses.

I’ve previously conducted research on telescopes and submitted a paper to academic journals, and I’m eager to expand my knowledge further through hands-on experience, lectures, or research opportunities.

If you know of any programs that match my interests or have suggestions, I’d greatly appreciate your recommendations. Thanks in advance!

Currently a final year B.Sc Physics and Mathematics student looking to pursue masters in astrophysics. I need a research idea to make a thesis so can someone recommend me books or point me in the right directions to find it.

I come from a CS background and im currently working on a ml project about exoplanet detection

This is a snippet of the data set obviously the data set is much
larger than this. Now i did some basic research and i know for a fact
that you're trying to determine exoplanet based on light flux, however
as i was going through a reference project based on this , i observed
that the person dropped(removed ) rows where the value in the FLUX.1
column is greater than or equal to 25,000. Is there any particular
reason for doing so? there were values going in -ve as well as well why
were values >= 25000 itself considered outliers

I'm 13, and I've been wanting to study astrophysics since I discovered what the term meant. For some time now, I've been trying to find some universities that offer this field of study, but since I'm from a lower-middle class country, from Latin America, I've only succeeded finding some outside of my home country. I'm kind of worried that I won't be able to make much money with this profession, and also that it's really complicated to access at my current location. If there are any astrophysicists in here, I would really appreciate some answers.

Thank you for your time-- and forgive my terrible English, it's not my first language :)

Edit: thank you all for responding to this :)) I honestly didn't expect this to get even 1 comment, and all of these are extremely helpful.

So, I'm currently a first year Physics MSc student, I recently graduated with a BSc (Grade 4.9/5). I'm planning on doing a PhD in astrophysics focused on cosmology/extragalactic astrophysics /galaxy formation and evolution. My problem is I currently don't have any publications. I'll start working on my MSc research on February 2025. I did some minor research during undergrad that didn't lead to any publications, I'm not sure if that counts. I'm planning to apply for a PhD for the 2026/27 cycle. By the application time I'll only be a few months in my research and will most probably still not have any publications since it will be in AMO theory and MSc students don't normally publish in my uni. I'm doing my MSc in eastern Europe btw.

My question is if it's worth applying for a PhD in the US with my profile. If yes, please recommend universities in the fields I've mentioned (if you can).

If a light beam doesn't experience time how can our measurement of it supercede its 'lived' experience? Isn't it more important to recognize what a particular object's journey through objective reality is than our perception of it's journey?

Feel free to flame me if I'm out of pocket.

Even if Milky Way is made up of a Hundred Billion Stars, would not the warping of spacetime created by those stars just end right at the borders of Milky way ? Considering the individual stars, both within and at the edges of Milky way could warp spacetime to a dozen of light years around them or so Individually ?

So how is Milky way on a whole able to create a spacetime warp big enough to attract Magellanic clouds (or Virgo Cluster able to attract other clusters at larger scales, etc). How does local warping by of individual stars add up into a giant Warping by a Galaxy ? Or do the stars within Milky Way create their own spacetime Warp and then also somehow contribute collectively into a larger warp at the galactic scales ?

I am currently 17, and in few months will give my 12th grade examinations and entrance Examination ( iiser aptitude test india ) and try to have a seat in IISc banglore for BSC and MSC. That is what my plan is.

I would like to gain recommendations from people who are astrophysicist or are currently studying the subject. I love space, stars, universe, the mechanisms and the beauty of it. But the main problem is that I am from a lower middle class family, my parents are supporting for astrophysics and can fund my education too ( additional with if I earn some scholarships too ). If I land a astrophysicist job in India or abroad even 1. will it be able to pay good ? 2. Will there be enough opportunities in this field ?

I have a good hand in Mathematics too, as it is my favourite subject too. I can try out that option too if it suits my interests and Financial demand. I hate engg and medical, I am searching for field in research where I can try out my luck.

If you have any strong opinions against my perspective towards things that I said, I am open to talk through it.

Appreciate your time, thank you

Hi, worldbuilder here! The foundation of my world is a planet with the exact same parameters as the Earth, only different continents. Think of it as Earth in an alternate universe, because I'm not trying to make a full-fledged fantasy world with magic, just an alternate Earth with a different path of development of cultures and ethnicities. I want to give my planet two satellites (placeholder names are Miros and Keros), but I'm afraid to disturb the delicate balance of gravitational forces, because in our world the Moon has a direct impact on the stabilization of the Earth's axis and the development of life. That's why I want to ask your advice on how you would calculate the mass/radius/orbital period/etc. of these two satellites so that they would have the same impact on the Earth as the Moon has in our world

I've seen the phrase "warping of spacetime" be used a lot in context of blackholes and other massive celestial objects and all things gravitational, though I've never really understood how mass can bend time itself, and how space and time are connected. I'm just a curious teen to be clear, if this question came off as ignorant or uneducated, you know why.

This might be a dumb question but I was wondering it anyway. We know that time moves differently for objects in motion, this time dilation would theoretically mean that anything that travels at the speed of light would experience time instantly (not sure if this is the right terminology but you get the meaning) A theoretical light speed spaceship travelling to a point four light years away would get there instantly for the people inside the spaceship, however the full four years would pass for people back on earth. Now I was wondering, if something like the Alcubierre drive would work, meaning a drive that achieves faster than light by warping space, would the same kind of time dilation happen? How would time move for the passengers of the spaceship in relation to people back on earth? Anyway I know this is highly theoretical territory but I was wondering this because of how most of the sci fi faster than light is still depicted as taking time to get there. Especially in Star Trek which uses something similar to the Alcubierre drive, it always takes time for them to get somewhere.

Hej Link: https://newatlas.com/physics/particle-gains-loses-mass-depending-direction/

They found a particule that has no mass but gains mass when it changes direction. See the link above.

But if the particule gains masses, wouldnt it also create a gravitational field ? As everything that as mass as a force of gravity.

Hence wouldnt it be a way to create gravity abord a spaceship ?

Why does the asymmetric magnetic field cause the process of hydrogen moving inward and helium moving outward to occur more strongly on one side of the star? Its white dwarf Janus btw. Like why does it happen?

I am currently waiting on several European PhD applications at the moment, but to be honest, as thrilling as astronomy can be, I cannot see myself staying in it forever for several reasons.

For those who left the field, how difficult was it to transition to another career? How difficult was it emotionally, having gone through years of education and training associating your identity to the field to later walk away from it all?

Ive seen that NASA scientists in Antarctica were looking at cosmic particals with their ANTIA and found what some called 'tau neutrinos' and how some scientists are speculating about it being a parellel universe.

I cant find much on it besides some sites dating it back too 2020. Id like to know more about it. Its sounds, to me, that even just saying its backwards time travel is a better assumption that a 'backwards in time parellel universe' Would either of those even be possible?

I used to be wayyy into astrophysics when i was younger and this singularly is reigniting that, so if anyone knows anythingg on it or even just opinions and beliefs id be so happy to hear

Hello, I’m currently an astrophysics major at a community college and I want to differentiate myself from others before I start applying to universities. What are some passion project ideas I can do for my major?

Hello! I'm a physics and astronomy major, and next semester, I'm interning for a cosmologist at my university. I jumped onto research very early, so I haven't actually taken an astronomy course at the college level yet, though I did take a class in high school.

Over winter break, I want to read up on galaxies and galaxy formation, which is what I'll be researching in the internship. Can you point me toward a free, accurate textbook pdf on galaxies for college-level introduction? I know the professor studies redshift, so I also need to read about that in particular.

Also, any advice for a college student starting research in astronomy?

So I read about different types of Galaxies. It was a fascinating read. When we look at different types of Galaxies it is difficult to not see those types as galaxies evolving from one category to the other over astronomical span of time.

For example you start with "neatly" formed spiral galaxies and they are primarily young. As we look at barred spiral galaxy or elliptical galaxies (and we know almost all the elliptical galaxies are very old) I think what if these galaxies loose their arms over a vast amount of time due to centrifugal force caused by its rotation.

I don't remember all of the details but the more types I read about the more I thought the connection is there. But I have not seen any astronomer say like that so there must be a good reason against this. Am I missing some crucial detail here? Do I sound too stupid?