ANSWERS: 6
  • due to their size I would venture to say they gravitate things to them making it impossible for them to be without a solar system of some sort or galaxy
  • I think it's an excellent question. Not even sure of the answer, but I would think it would be 'Not that we are aware of'.
  • Stars are formed in galaxies, and I think only there. However, when two galaxies collide it is possible for small groups of stars to be flung out of the resultant merged galaxy. So I think the answer to your question us yes, but very few: the vast majority of stars will always remain in a galaxy.
  • 1) "NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has found a long sought population of "stellar outcasts" — stars tossed out of their home galaxy into the dark emptiness of intergalactic space. This is the first time stars have been found more than 300,000 light-years (three Milky Way diameters) from the nearest big galaxy. The isolated stars dwell in the Virgo cluster of galaxies, about 60 million light-years away. The results suggest this population of "lone stars" accounts for 10 percent of the Virgo cluster's mass, or 1 trillion Sun-like stars adrift among the 2,500 galaxies in Virgo." Source and further information: http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/1997/02/text/ 2) "Stars are not spread uniformly across the universe, but are normally grouped into galaxies along with interstellar gas and dust. A typical galaxy contains hundreds of billions of stars, and there are more than 100 billion (10^11) galaxies in the observable universe. While it is often believed that stars only exist within galaxies, intergalactic stars have been discovered." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star
  • I don't think it's a stupid question, it involves some pretty complex astrophysics. In space the basics are mass, inertia, and gravity. You can think of everything as moving or you can think of any one thing as being stationary (with respect to itself) and everything else as moving. A galaxy is a moving mass of stars (and dark matter) where inertia is balanced by gravity. In principle any "free floating" star is still affected by its gravitational environment. The closest galaxy affects it by some very small amount. If a galaxy exerts 1/4 ounce attraction on a star, it wouldn't perceivably move that star within our lifetimes, but add that force over billions of years and you'd see some real motion. So if we decide that a star is free floating, eventually it will merge with a galaxy though it might burn out on its way there. NASA is very proud of its new Ion propulsion system that they envision will take humans to Mars. This engine produces only 0.1 lb of thrust, about the same as the force of 9 quarters in your hand. Over time in space, however, this can move a spaceship millions of miles. http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/about/fs21grc.html
  • 8-9-2017 Not a stupid question at all. Stars are sometimes expelled from other stars. This is not a standard astrophysical concept, but some scientists are investigating such stars. Other astronomers don't accept the idea, so they have to make up wacky explanations. You can read the news here: https://www.thunderbolts.info/wp/daily-tpod/

Copyright 2023, Wired Ivy, LLC

Answerbag | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy