Daily Archives: January 23, 2016

Constellations of the East

Posted on January 23, 2016 by jasperluastronomy

When we were looking at star maps inside of Stellarium during class, I couldn’t help but think about how arbitrary all of the constellations seemed. If I didn’t know what shape to look for, I don’t think I would ever have found the same patterns in the sky. I decided to study the Chinese constellation system […] Continue reading →

Posted in Historical, Stars | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Constellations of the East

The best way to propose to an astronomer: Solar eclipses

Posted on January 23, 2016 by d51blog

  A solar eclipse, which is the only acceptable way to propose to an astronomer, is a fairly uncommon event which occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun. Although the Moon is much smaller than the Sun, it is able to completely block the Sun because it is much closer to the […] Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Sun | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on The best way to propose to an astronomer: Solar eclipses

So, is a light-year some kind of diet plan or whatever? The speed of light and space

Posted on January 23, 2016 by d51blog

To answer the titular question in a word: no. So then, what exactly is a light-year and what does it have to do with the speed of light? A light-year is the amount of distance that a given light wave (light, radio waves, X-rays) travels in a year. Because the speed of light is approximately 300,000 meters per second, […] Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Light | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on So, is a light-year some kind of diet plan or whatever? The speed of light and space

What if the speed of light were 60 mph

Posted on January 23, 2016 by jasperluastronomy

In class the other day, we were asked about what we thought would happen if the speed of light were much much lower. I forget the exact number now, but I believe it was around 60 mph. I decided to research the subject a bit more.   Assuming that someone just flicked a switch one […] Continue reading →

Posted in Light | Tagged , , | Comments Off on What if the speed of light were 60 mph

Blog #1: The Size of the Universe

Posted on January 23, 2016 by martisnv

The size and scale of the universe is extremely difficult for the human brain to understand. It is hard for us to wrap our minds around just how vast and empty space actually is. When we first learn about the solar … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Class | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Blog #1: The Size of the Universe