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Why is the sun so hot? – Ziyonna, 11, Indiana

August 29, 2024 melissamayer

Dear Ziyonna,

What happens if you do a big jump? Your body goes up into the air. But then it comes back down again. The reason you don’t just keep going up, up, up is because the force of gravity pushes your body and the Earth together.

It turns out gravity is a big reason the sun is so hot. That’s what my friend Michael Allen told me. He’s an astronomer at Washington State University.

He said that, at first, the universe was like a thick soup of gas and dust. Then, gravity pushed some of the gas and dust together. That’s how stars … » More …

How was the moon formed? - Barbara, 10, Texas

September 30, 2022 melissamayer

Dear Barbara,

Why do moon rocks taste better than Earth rocks? They’re a little meteor! In all seriousness, your question is something humans wondered about for a long time.

I talked to my friend Michael Allen, astronomy professor at WSU about how the moon formed. He told me we figured out the answer in 1972. That’s shortly after humans visited the moon for the first time.

Dear Dr. Universe: How did people figure out how much a whole planet weighs? They could not have just put it on a scale! How did they do it? – Angel, 14, California

April 23, 2021 rcwebber

About 300 years ago during another pandemic, there was a person named Sir Isaac Newton who spent a lot of time at home thinking about the universe. He was thinking about how objects fall and started to wonder if the same force that made objects fall also kept the moon in its orbit. He called this force gravity. That’s what I found out from my friend Guy Worthey, an astronomer at Washington State University. Gravity plays a big part in the answer to your question, and we’ll explore that in just a moment. Read More ...

Dear Dr. Universe: Why does the Earth spin? -Morven, 8, Dundee, Scotland; Judith, 9, Sabah Malaysia; Mara, 11, USA

October 12, 2016 rcwebber

Dear Morven, Judith, and Mara:

No matter how still we stand, or if we’re in Scotland, Malaysia, or the United States, we are always spinning. Our Earth spins at a constant, very fast speed as we make a trip around the sun.

Dr. Universe: Are aliens real? -Lily, 10, New York City, NY Is there life on other planets? -Heidi, Cincinnati, OH

July 27, 2015 rcwebber

Dear Lily and Heidi,

Well, we don’t know for certain. Looking up to the stars at night, I’ve often wondered if alien cats are out chasing alien mice or taking naps on other planets.

My imagination aside, your questions are like those scientists are asking, too. And it’s no wonder we are so curious.

With billions of planets in our galaxy, including small Earth-like worlds, the possibility of life out there is an exciting thought to many people. So, humans have set out to look for planets that might support life.

In fact, this month scientists announced the Kepler spacecraft’s discovery of … » More …

Why do stars blink? -Xitan, Philippines

April 27, 2015 rcwebber

Dear Xitan,

Look up to the twinkly stars and you’ll witness starlight traveling from deep space to your eyeballs. That twinkling you see is the light taking lots and lots of detours.

What if gravity pulled up, instead of down? -Kyle, Cedar Lake, IN

March 9, 2015 rcwebber

Our universe would look so different, Kyle. You might not recognize it even if you could be here to see it. Unfortunately, there probably wouldn’t be a whole lot to see. I learned about this from Washington State University professor and physicist Matthew McCluskey, who studies the material world. He explained how gravity pulls together dust, gas, and little particles floating around space to make massive clumps of matter that form stars and planets. For example: planet Earth. Every particle in the Earth is pulling on you at this very moment--every single one. Read More ...