Actually, there are bars at the center of most spiral-shaped galaxies. But you won’t find any drunken Wookies or neon Budweiser signs, only vast sweeps of dust and stars.

A barred spiral galaxy

Galaxies are enormous, turning [...]]]> http://www.how-come.net/2009/09/12/how-come-there-are-bars-in-some-galaxies/feed/ 0 http://www.how-come.net/2008/08/27/how-come-eggs-can-balance-on-end-on-the-first-day-of-spring/ http://www.how-come.net/2008/08/27/how-come-eggs-can-balance-on-end-on-the-first-day-of-spring/#comments Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:30:37 +0000 Kathy Wollard http://how-come.net/2008/08/27/how-come-eggs-can-balance-on-end-on-the-first-day-of-spring/ How come eggs can balance on end on the first day of Spring? asks a reader.

It’s coming: this Thursday, March 20th, at 1:48 a.m. EDT. You may sleep through the Vernal Equinox, but when you wake up, it will be the first day of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere.

The Vernal or Spring Equinox [...]]]> http://www.how-come.net/2008/08/27/how-come-eggs-can-balance-on-end-on-the-first-day-of-spring/feed/ 0 http://www.how-come.net/2008/08/27/how-is-it-possible-to-see-stars-in-the-daytime-from-the-depths-of-a-well/ http://www.how-come.net/2008/08/27/how-is-it-possible-to-see-stars-in-the-daytime-from-the-depths-of-a-well/#comments Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:41:15 +0000 Kathy Wollard http://how-come.net/2008/08/27/how-is-it-possible-to-see-stars-in-the-daytime-from-the-depths-of-a-well/ How is it possible to see stars in the daytime from the depths of a well? asks Balaji, via email.

In Charles Dickens’ popular novel “The Pickwick Papers,” first published as a serial in 1836 and 1837, we hear about law clerks working in a very unpleasant office:

“In the ground-floor front of a dingy [...]]]> http://www.how-come.net/2008/08/27/how-is-it-possible-to-see-stars-in-the-daytime-from-the-depths-of-a-well/feed/ 0 http://www.how-come.net/2008/08/27/when-the-moon-is-just-a-crescent-how-come-we-can-faintly-see-the-darkened-side/ http://www.how-come.net/2008/08/27/when-the-moon-is-just-a-crescent-how-come-we-can-faintly-see-the-darkened-side/#comments Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:30:26 +0000 Kathy Wollard http://how-come.net/2008/08/27/when-the-moon-is-just-a-crescent-how-come-we-can-faintly-see-the-darkened-side/ When the Moon is just a crescent, how come we can faintly see the darkened side? asks a reader.

It all starts with the Sun. The Sun makes its own glow, by fusing hydrogen atoms into helium atoms, releasing photons of light in the process. Presto: Sunshine. The Moon is lit up by sunlight, reflected [...]]]> http://www.how-come.net/2008/08/27/when-the-moon-is-just-a-crescent-how-come-we-can-faintly-see-the-darkened-side/feed/ 0 http://www.how-come.net/2007/12/18/why-does-the-moon-change-color-in-the-fall/ http://www.how-come.net/2007/12/18/why-does-the-moon-change-color-in-the-fall/#comments Tue, 18 Dec 2007 18:32:22 +0000 Kathy Wollard http://how-come.net/?p=31 Why does the moon change color in the fall? asks Alex Dickinson, a student in Holtsville, NY.

It just wouldn’t be fall without a huge Halloween moon glowing orange at the horizon, rising above a spooky landscape of black tree limbs and piled-up leaves.

We call the moons of autumn harvest moons, but the official [...]]]> http://www.how-come.net/2007/12/18/why-does-the-moon-change-color-in-the-fall/feed/ 0 http://www.how-come.net/2007/12/18/how-come-you-can-still-see-a-star-that-disappeared-many-years-ago/ http://www.how-come.net/2007/12/18/how-come-you-can-still-see-a-star-that-disappeared-many-years-ago/#comments Tue, 18 Dec 2007 06:54:02 +0000 Kathy Wollard http://how-come.net/?p=22 How come you can still see a star that disappeared many years ago? asks Rebecca Herskovits, a student in Yeshiva Har Torah, Bayside, NY.

Human beings are fascinated with the idea of a time machine–a way to shake off the bonds of the present and travel into the past or the future. No one has [...]]]> http://www.how-come.net/2007/12/18/how-come-you-can-still-see-a-star-that-disappeared-many-years-ago/feed/ 0 http://www.how-come.net/2007/12/18/why-does-the-moon-look-gigantic-rising-on-the-horizon-but-not-nearly-so-large-overhead/ http://www.how-come.net/2007/12/18/why-does-the-moon-look-gigantic-rising-on-the-horizon-but-not-nearly-so-large-overhead/#comments Tue, 18 Dec 2007 06:51:10 +0000 Kathy Wollard http://how-come.net/?p=19 Why does the moon look gigantic rising on the horizon but not nearly so large overhead? asks Jerry Hostetler, of Phoenix, AZ.

Have you ever been riding in a car in the evening and noticed something huge and yellow behind the trees and buildings in the east–and then realized it was the Moon? Especially in [...]]]> http://www.how-come.net/2007/12/18/why-does-the-moon-look-gigantic-rising-on-the-horizon-but-not-nearly-so-large-overhead/feed/ 0 http://www.how-come.net/2007/12/18/how-come-it-is-still-light-for-an-hour-after-the-sun-sets/ http://www.how-come.net/2007/12/18/how-come-it-is-still-light-for-an-hour-after-the-sun-sets/#comments Tue, 18 Dec 2007 06:46:43 +0000 Kathy Wollard http://how-come.net/?p=16 How come it is still light for an hour after the sun sets? asks P. Ramana Mohan, of India.Twilight time: a time of purple clouds, deepening shadows, a fading glow in the sky. Still light enough to play outside, but getting harder and harder to read without a lamp. As a song made popular by [...]]]> http://www.how-come.net/2007/12/18/how-come-it-is-still-light-for-an-hour-after-the-sun-sets/feed/ 0 http://www.how-come.net/2007/12/18/why-does-the-moon-seem-to-follow-us-when-we-drive/ http://www.how-come.net/2007/12/18/why-does-the-moon-seem-to-follow-us-when-we-drive/#comments Tue, 18 Dec 2007 06:24:35 +0000 Kathy Wollard http://how-come.net/?p=8 Why does the Moon seem to follow us when we drive? asks a 4th-grade class in Lancaster, OH.

Feel like you’re being followed? While it seems like the Moon is always just over your shoulder on a moonlit night, the Sun is also shadowing you as you drive on a sunny afternoon. And then there [...]]]> http://www.how-come.net/2007/12/18/why-does-the-moon-seem-to-follow-us-when-we-drive/feed/ 0