Daily Archives: January 26, 2016

The Speed of Light

Posted on January 26, 2016 by podolakvandysolarsystem

The speed of light is very, very fast, almost incomprehensibly fast. It is unusual to think that whenever we see an object, light is bouncing off that object and hitting our eye. We perceive this to be instantaneous, but it actually takes some infinitesimal amount of time for light to travel from nearby objects to […] Continue reading →

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Your Zodiac Sign is Wrong: 3 Misconceptions You Have About the Night-Sky

Posted on January 26, 2016 by harperastronomyblog

We all get it. You’re a Capricorn or a Taurus or a Sagittarius or a(n) [any other zodiac constellation]. You’ve read all of your horoscopes, and they fit your personality soooo well. “This is so me,” you might yell to your friends, completely disregarding the fact that they don’t care which vague internet prediction you identify with. […] Continue reading →

Posted in Aliens, Class, Dwarf Planets, Exoplanets, Galaxies, General, Historical, Instruments, Jovians, Light, Moons, Observables, Outreach, Physics, Planet Rings, Public Policy, Science, Small SS Objects, SolarSystem, Space Travel, Stars, Sun, Terrestrials, Universe | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Your Zodiac Sign is Wrong: 3 Misconceptions You Have About the Night-Sky

The Universal Speed Limit

Posted on January 26, 2016 by solarsystemjoe

According to the Special Theory of Relativity, the speed at which light travels is the same in all reference frames.  In other words, you will always observe that light will travel at 2.99*10^8 m/s, regardless of how fast you’re going.  At first, one might think that this number is so high that it would make little […] Continue reading →

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“Goodnight Nobody, Goodnight Mush”

Posted on January 26, 2016 by evinske

When we think we can’t see the moon, it can definitely see us. This doesn’t just hold true when we’re sleeping. As the children’s book, “Goodnight Moon,” goes, we may say “Goodnight” to the moon – but it’s still there outside our window and outside our atmosphere. Different parts of the moon disappear at different […] Continue reading →

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You are stronger than the Universe! (Kind of)

Posted on January 26, 2016 by nickwtheastronomer

Minute Physics: Do We Expand with the Universe? As you read this post, the universe around you is shooting outwards and stretching off into the unknown at unimaginable speeds! But if that’s true, why cant’t you feel it? In a way it is because you are stronger the the stretching of the universe! Well maybe […] Continue reading →

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Blog #2 Observation

Posted on January 26, 2016 by seanmcsolsys

Much of what has been covered in class so far has been from the perspective of an observer on Earth. We know that light pollution from cities makes it difficult to see starlight with the naked eye. With that in mind, observatories tend to be far away from city limits. Additionally, they tend to be […] Continue reading →

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Solstices & Spirituality

Posted on January 26, 2016 by lindseynestor

  As we’ve learned through our assignments and reading, the spring and fall equinoxes are the times when the Sun appears to cross the equator, causing daytime to be the same length at almost all latitudes. These two days, in addition to the winter and summer solstices, held high significance in ancient spirituality. The adoration […] Continue reading →

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Solstices & Spirituality

Posted on January 26, 2016 by lindseynestor

  As we’ve learned through our assignments and reading, the spring and fall equinoxes are the times when the Sun appears to cross the equator, causing daytime to be the same length at almost all latitudes. These two days, in addition to the winter and summer solstices, held high significance in ancient spirituality. The adoration […] Continue reading →

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Observing Deep Space

Posted on January 26, 2016 by mattsastronomyblog

Trying to observe deep space proves to be difficult with the naked eye.  Over time telescopes have allowed humans to see farther and farther into space.  The Hubble space telescope was launched in 1990 and orbits around the Earth.  Because the telescope is in space, there is minimal light pollution.  The telescope lens is almost […] Continue reading →

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Blog #1 Vast Size and Scale

Posted on January 26, 2016 by seanmcsolsys

From Chapter 1 of our course textbook, we dived deep into the vastness that is space. We explored what our cosmic address is, how long it takes to travel among the stars in terms of light-years, and measured our distance from the center of the Milky Way. Despite this almost unimaginable expanse, the chapter doesn’t really […] Continue reading →

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