Philip Stahl - Astronomy - Space & Astronomy for Kids - Science

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Expert Profile: Philip Stahl

Expertise: I have forty years of experience in Astronomy, specifically solar and space physics. My specialties include the physics of solar flares, sunspots, including their effects on Earth and statistics as applied to astronomical investigations.
Astronomy: more than forty years experience starting with construction of my own simple telescopes. Worked at university observatory in college, doing astrographic measurements. M.Phil. degree in Physics/Solar Physics and more than ten years as researcher.

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What do you like about this subject? The extent and breadth in the cosmic perspective, and basically 'putting humans in their proper place', disabusing them of an exaggerated sense of self-importance.

What do you still hope to achieve/learn in this field? To achieve: a computer program that can profile different double layer conditions for solar flares. To learn: anything that I haven't already.

Something interesting about this subject that others may not know: The discovery of Pluto was a pure fluke based on in error in (Percival) Lowell's calculations. (The mass of Pluto was taken to be 6.6 x the Earth's!)It just turned out that Pluto was where Lowell predicted it was- but his calculations were totally wrong! The right result, for the wrong reason.

Something controversial or provocative about this subject Giordano Bruno was burnt at the stake for daring to speculate that life could exist on other worlds, and writing about it.

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Recent Answers from Philip Stahl

2008-11-18 Weird flash: Hello, Given the absence of much more (specific) data it is virtually impossible to even speculate as to what you witnessed. For example, one would need to know: 1- Time (UT) of the sighting 2-...

2008-11-17 moon: Hello, Your question is not entirely clear. You are asking how the Moon appears in the "western hemisphere" vis-a-vis the southern (which ALSO has a western hemisphere!) I think you actually mean how...

2008-11-14 on stars: It is probably more likely that these "3 or 4 stars" are brighter (have lower apparent magnitudes) and hence are more easily visible just after sunset. Also, bear in mind that bright planets (e.g. Venus)...

2008-11-13 Comet-Like Knots Around a Dying Star in the Helix Nebula: Good questions all! First, let me emphasize the "cometary" description, not "comets" literally. Recall I said that may be open to interpretation. After further checking it seems most astronomers who've...

2008-11-11 stars visibility: Hello, Relatively fewer stars are visible earlier in the evening because of astronomical twilight which can last up to an hour after sunset. Past twilight many more stars are visible because you have...