Monthly Archives: February 2014

The Celestial Compass

Posted on February 16, 2014 by paanvaannd

For millennia, humans have known that the movements of certain celestial objects repeat in a predictable pattern, and for millennia humans have mapped the movements of stars and other objects in the heavens and tried to make predictions about the cycles for these objects.  Most humans probably didn’t care about what might be up in … Continue reading The Celestial Compass → Continue reading →

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Gravitation and the theory of everything

Posted on February 16, 2014 by Drew Hamilton

Over the last several class periods, we have talked a lot about the force of gravitation. Incidentally, gravitation is considered one of the four fundamental forces of nature, along with weak force, strong force, and electromagnetic force. Interestingly, though, gravitation is the only one of these that is explained by a separate theory—the general theory… Continue reading →

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The Invention of the Telescope

Posted on February 16, 2014 by katiew

The telescope was most likely invented in 1608 by a German eyeglass maker named Hans Lippershey, although there is some uncertainty. Another eyeglass maker from the Netherlands, named Jacob Metius, filed for a patent soon after Lippershey and a third man, named Sacharias Janssen, later claimed to be the creator.  Despite these claims, Lippershey is […] Continue reading →

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Tides

Posted on February 16, 2014 by katiew

Many people know that tides rise and fall as a result of the Moon, but often times people are unaware that the Sun also exerts a tidal force on the Earth. Tides are caused by gravitational force, which depends on the mass of the objects pulling on each other and the distance between them. The […] Continue reading →

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Hubble Space Telescope

Posted on February 16, 2014 by ilman

The Hubble Space Telescope was launched in 1990 and is still in service today. Just as Galileo’s first telescope opened the door to a new world beyond what the naked eyes can see, the Hubble Space Telescope broke through heaven’s gates and showed us a world beyond the boundaries of space-time, capturing even images of […] Continue reading →

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Constantly Falling

Posted on February 16, 2014 by ilman

Contrary to popular belief, there is gravity in space, in fact gravity is everywhere. On the International Space Station, there is as much gravitational force as it is on Earth’s surface. But then… why are those astronauts (in the video) merrily floating around? Not to ruin the party or anything, but they are not floating […] Continue reading →

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Where Can You See Stars in the 4th Largest City?

Posted on February 15, 2014 by hollyreichert

In the heart of the museum district in Houston, Texas, there is the Houston Museum of Natural Science.  Besides a football field size paleontology hall, IMAX screen and butterfly center, HMNS hosts the Burke Baker Planetarium.  The planetarium also is used to train astronauts to help them be able to identify stars. In addition to […] Continue reading →

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The Earth and Rubber Bands

Posted on February 15, 2014 by juliamac17

So I found this neat video, curtesy of YouTube that helped me understand tides a little better. What confused me most – and I’m sure I’m not the only one for whom this is true – is that the Moon’s gravitational pull on the Earth causes tides on both sides of the Earth. One thing that helped […] Continue reading →

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The Highest Tides in the Bay of Fundy

Posted on February 15, 2014 by hollyreichert

Tides are created by the Moon’s gravitational pull on the Earth.  While the Sun also pulls on the Earth, it is so far away that the tides are not as affected by the Sun as they are by the Moon.  The tidal force is created by the difference in gravitational pull on each side of […] Continue reading →

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Supermassive Black Hole at the Center of Our Galaxy

Posted on February 14, 2014 by philipapelles

Sitting at the center of our galaxy, a supermassive black hole weighing four million times the weight of our sun waits. After the class discussion on black holes, I began investigating local black holes, and discovered that there is a gigantic black hole in our very own milky galaxy. Scientists first located this black hole… Continue reading →

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