A wide open space (It could be your backyard or a park.) Two Hula-Hoops (Alternatively, you could use two flat rocks or bricks that you can sit on.) A yardstick or meterstick (Use one that has clear ...

Let’s try a demonstration that we all enjoyed in elementary school. Close one eye, hold out your thumb at arm’s length, and align it with an object on the other side of the room. Without moving your ...

For the first time, astronomers have directly measured the distance to a spot clear across the galaxy. The established but challenging technique promises a new way to map the structure of the Milky ...

It isn't easy to measure the distance of stars. We can't travel to them, counting the miles as we go, nor can we simply say that brighter stars are closer and dimmer ones more distant. Instead, we ...

There's something sort of cool in the next version of Apple's iOS. It's called ARKit—basically, it's a part of Apple's developer package to help programmers create awesome augmented reality apps. Like ...

Distance measured out to the far side of our Milky Way means that radio astronomers now can work on producing an accurate map of the full extent of our galaxy's structure for the first time.

How do scientists calculate the distance from Earth to a star or galaxy? originally appeared on Quora - the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique ...

Try this experiment: extend your thumb at arm’s length and close one eye at a time. Your thumb will seem to ‘jump’ between two positions as you switch the eye that is closed. That jump is known as ...