Misconceptions and Misinformation in Astronomy

There are many common misconceptions and a lot of misinformation being relayed from person to person about astronomy and the cosmos. With a little research from some helpful, credible sources I have attempted to debunk some of these mad myths. It is astounding, however, that some of these myths even exist; incredible even.

To begin, Philip Plait has published an online article for Space.com asserting the Top 5 Cosmic Myths. It is this article that deserves top billing. There are many myths about the lack of gravity in space, but the truth is that all the cosmic objects are held together, physically and in their orbits, etc. by gravity. It must be easy to think that while astronauts float, there is no gravity. However, it is an inescapable law of physics. Their second attempt at discrediting a myth is that the Moon looks larger over the horizon than high in the sky because of the Earth's atmosphere. Unfortunately, this is just an illusion and can be proven wrong if one holds up a small object and compares the size of the Moon over the horizon and when it is high in the sky. The third type myth that plagues humanity, according to Space.com, is that the Earth's seasons are caused by the Earth's distance from the sun. It is sad to see that some people actually believe this; but as learned in Astronomy the tilt of the Earth's axis is the reason for the seasons. Also, it should be noted that the Earth does travel in an ellipse; therefore, at some points it is farther away from the sun than others and this only affects the length of the seasons. The fourth most common myth is that meteors burn up on the atmosphere because of friction, which of course is untrue. It is the violent compression of the air in front of it that heats the air and, consequently, heats it as it plunges towards Earth. The fifth most common myth is that these meteors that plunge towards Earth are still hot when they reach the Earth's surface. This is a very complicated process, but while the particle of meteor is still frozen from space, the hot part actually melts away and the Earth's cold upper atmosphere cools it while it falls, and then the meteorite will normally take several seconds to fall towards earth.

Mr. Plait has also created his own Bad Astronomy website documenting many other misconceptions of the cosmos. His first attempt is the egg and the equinox theory; which in class we have learned is obviously a myth. He then moves on two three idioms which are incorrectly said. The first is of commenting on a person having a "bad meteoric rise"; however, it is common knowledge that meteors do not rise, they fall. Many companies like to state that they are "light-years ahead of the competition," Plait disagrees stating that there is "no astronomical equivalency here. The phrase is just wrong!" (Plait, Bad Astronomy, 2004). The phrase "the dark side of the Moon" is not entirely correct, it should be "the far side of the Moon."

It seems that there are even those people who will look up at the sky and believe that the sky really does reflect the oceans, unfortunately the blue sky is from the scattered blue light from the sun's spectrum. Plait also has another point that is rather intriguing about the beginning of the seasons. He states that although they officially begin on the Summer and Winter Solstice and the Vernal and Autumnal Equinoxes it is more accurate that these dates are the midpoint of these seasons. He contends that it is because the solstice dates show the extremities of the summer and winter seasons, while the dates of the equinoxes should be the anchors, or midpoints, of those seasons. The Coriolis Effect is also untrue, as we had learned in class. Unfortunately because the Earth only makes one rotation per day, the Coriolis force is not very strong and thus does not have much of an effect on the way a sink drains. Other factors, such as the shape of the sink, play a more important factor. The Fox television program Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land On The Moon? is, according to Plait a crazy myth. There are many credible websites that chronicle the information about the lunar landings that support the fact that we did, in reality, land on the Moon. There are so many myths about the Moon; including that the phases of the moon are due to the Earth's shadow from the Sun, projected upon the Moon, which is of course incorrect.

Some people when asked if the Moon is visible during the day will also swear that it isn't visible. However, the second brightest daylight object is of course the Moon. Back to the far side of the Moon, many people also believe that the Moon does not rotate. However, it does, once for every orbit around the Earth, it is just that from our vantage point it doesn't not seem like it. If a viewer were to observe the Moon's orbit about the Earth from an outside viewpoint they would be able to see the Moon rotate. The colors of stars are also another myth. As we have discussed in class just recently the colors of stars are of the entire spectrum and reflect the stage of life in which the star is currently in. But many people think that all stars are white, because their eyes cannot discern the many faint colors of the stars because of the rods and cones in their eyes. There is a common misconception that people can read by starlight, if one removes the sun from the list of stars, it is impossible. Starlight is entirely too faint to view anything by. Incredibly, many people also think that Polaris is a bright star. When measuring magnitude it is actually not that bright and is easily missed; we have dunked that myth in a recent planetarium session.

It is humorous to think that people will ask about a telescope "how much closer do objects appear?" Incredible in what they really mean to ask is what is the magnification of the telescope. Apparently there are even people out there who will say that the "Face on Mars" is not really a large mass of land, but remnants of a civilization. It's incredible how people can be so naïve. Impressive, and not in the least believable, some believe that planetary alignments do cause earthquakes. It is obvious that this myth is the product of some very karma driven people. As for the zodiac, the standard 12 signs is not exactly true, and according to the website it encompasses anywhere from 13 to 24 constellations. Interestingly enough, some people believe that if the Sun were to collapse into a black whole the other planets would soon follow, but plausible as that may seem it would not occur. There would essentially be no difference in gravity as felt on Earth.

It's often said that in space, you can't hear yourself scream. However, this is untrue, space is not the vacuum it is often portrayed to be, and can actually act as a medium for sound to travel. Logically, one might think that a half-Moon would only be half as bright as a full-Moon, but that is wrong, as it is not the Moon, but the reflection of the Sun's light that one really sees when the Moon is in the sky. Some people also often wonder why a comet does not typically zoom across the sky. This is because although the comet is traveling at hundreds of thousands of miles it is typically hundreds of thousands of miles away from the Earth, as well. Some people also often wonder why there isn't a South Star or if there is at all, and there is. However it is quite a bit fainter and thus difficult to see with the naked eye. Curiosities also arise as to whether or not artificial satellites can be seen with the naked eye, and the answer to that is they can. Although such an object may be difficult to discern, one can observe these objects if they are aware of the position around the Earth at a particular moment.

Total solar eclipses only happen in certain parts of the Earth depending upon the season; however, people do question whether or not they occur very often, centuries even. With a little traveling, one can view a total solar eclipse approximately every 18 months somewhere on the Earth's surface. The idea of a meteor shower also befuddles many people; they ask why they do not produce a "shower." It is actually an expression that is a bit misleading, yes. It refers to several meteor streaks across the sky within an hours time, in which case would be referred to as a shower. And lastly, many people believe that a telescope can actually see through cloud cover; that is unfortunately a misconception. Cloud cover is dense and opaque, and thus one cannot see through it.

All of this information was procured through

Spacewatch Friday. Accessed 18 Apr 2004, from http://www.space.com.