Nothing could be further from the truth, because an object has to 70 miles (112.6 km) across if you wanted to see it from the surface of the Moon without optical aid. Astronaut Alan Bean, who was on the Moon during the Apollo 12 mission, describes how Earth looks from the Moon- “The only thing […]

Well, magnification is important, but only up to a point. Moreover, it is possible to magnify any celestial object up to 1000 times, regardless of the aperture of the telescope, but the reality is that at such high magnifications, the image breaks down completely, again regardless of the aperture. High magnification has the effect of […]

 This is another of our favourite myths, and one we particularly enjoy debunking, since we can offer photographic evidence of the moon landings. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is just one spacecraft that has taken close-ups of the various landing sites and equipment left behind. The Japanese Space Agency, JAXA, also operates a lunar orbiter, and […]

We have all heard the rumble of the Spaceship Enterprise’s engines on TV, and some of may even have heard stars explode in the movies, but the truth is that sound cannot travel through the vacuum of space. To hear sound, there must a medium to propagate the sound waves, and since much of space […]

As myths go, this is one our all-time favourites, since gravity is one of the four universal forces, along with electromagnetism, and the weak and strong nuclear forces. In fact, gravity holds the Universe together, and although there are other forces at work, like dark matter and dark energy, we will stick with gravity. Think […]

There are arguably more myths and misconceptions about astronomy, and space in general, than about any other scientific discipline today, and much of it is due to the distortions and special effects produced by Hollywood. The movie industry will always find a way to mess up the science behind anything, which does nothing to promote […]