Daily Archives: February 13, 2016

The Gran Telescopio CANARIAS

Posted on February 13, 2016 by Chloe

When it comes to reflecting telescopes, bigger can mean better. The Gran Telescopio CANARIAS (GTC), located on the island of La Palma in the Canaries, Spain, is currently the largest single-aperture optical telescope in the world. Its primary mirror surface is made up of thirty-six hexagon segments; together these segments function as one primary mirror […] Continue reading →

Posted in Instruments, Light | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Gran Telescopio CANARIAS

The Sun and the Missing Neutrinos

Posted on February 13, 2016 by solarsystemjoe

First of all, what is a neutrino?  It’s an elementary particle, like an electron or a photon, but it hardly interacts with matter.  In fact, billions of neutrinos pass through you every second, but you don’t feel them.  This characteristic makes them hard to detect.  It’s no wonder that, in recent history, scientists thought some […] Continue reading →

Posted in Observables, Stars, Sun | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Sun and the Missing Neutrinos

Newgrange, Archeoastronomy Before Stonehenge

Posted on February 13, 2016 by solarsystemjoe

Although Stonehenge is the most famous ancient astronomy site in Europe, it isn’t the oldest.  While Stonehenge was built around 3000 BCE, Newgrange, a tomb in Country Meath, Ireland, was built around  3200 BCE. At first glance, this tomb doesn’t seem to have much to do with astronomy; there is no telescope, nor is there a spire to […] Continue reading →

Posted in Historical, Observables | Tagged , | Comments Off on Newgrange, Archeoastronomy Before Stonehenge