Monthly Archives: February 2016

One Shift, Two Shift, Redshift, Blueshift

Images: Redshifted, blueshifted spectra,   The Doppler shift You’re probably already familiar with the doppler effect of sound. Every time you hear a car zoom past, it pitch changes from higher as it approaches to lower as it leaves. This is because sound is dependent on the relative position of the observer, and if the sound […] Continue reading

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One Shift, Two Shift, Redshift, Blueshift

Images: Redshifted, blueshifted spectra,   The Doppler shift You’re probably already familiar with the doppler effect of sound. Every time you hear a car zoom past, it pitch changes from higher as it approaches to lower as it leaves. This is because sound is dependent on the relative position of the observer, and if the sound […] Continue reading

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I’m not an astrophysicist, but this is still exciting

captain’s blog, Stardate 69592.2 This blog post is the first without restrictions. and you know what that means. And because there are no rules, we’re gonna get crazy. This blog post is allowed to be about anything related to astronomy, so I figure why not blog about THE BIGGEST SCIENTIFIC FINDING OF THE YEAR. Yeah. I don’t […] Continue reading

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HW #B4 – To Blink Or Not To Blink

On a warm night this summer on Edisto Island, SC, my friends and I took to the beach to go shrimping. The after-dark escapade turned into a feeding frenzy, reaping monstrous crustaceans with beady, red eyes. The younger kids eventually took turns in the water, and I sat on a sand dune and looked up at the clear […] Continue reading

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“ask me”

my little brother wants to be an astronaut and swim in the shadows of titan and calypso in the silk sheen shadow of saturn but sometimes we face-off across the little coffee table with the etch marks i made when i was ten and the ones he made when he was ten. “i have so many questions,” … Continue reading “ask me” Continue reading

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“ask me”

my little brother wants to be an astronaut and swim in the shadows of titan and calypso in the silk sheen shadow of saturn but sometimes we face-off across the little coffee table with the etch marks i made when i was ten and the ones he made when he was ten. “i have so many questions,” … Continue reading “ask me” Continue reading

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Gravitational Waves

One hundred years ago, Albert Einstein published his general theory of relativity. This theory predicted that the acceleration of extremely massive objects would create ripples in the fabric of space-time, called gravitational waves. Just last week, a team of scientists at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) announced that they had recorded a gravitational wave […] Continue reading

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Limitations of Gravitational Slingshots in our Solar System

The use of gravity assist has been an integral part of space exploration. Gravitational slingshots have been used time and time again to send spacecraft to areas that would be impossible to get to otherwise by providing the spacecraft with increased speed. Accordingly, spacecrafts are able to get places faster and use less fuel. (Voyager […] Continue reading

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Limitations of Gravitational Slingshots in our Solar System

The use of gravity assist has been an integral part of space exploration. Gravitational slingshots have been used time and time again to send spacecraft to areas that would be impossible to get to otherwise by providing the spacecraft with increased speed. Accordingly, spacecrafts are able to get places faster and use less fuel. (Voyager […] Continue reading

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We’re all attractive (by gravity!)

Images: Gravitational Field,  Conic Sections We like to think science has everything figured out—and it has in fact come very far to that end. But there are still many things in the world and the universe that has researchers scratching their heads. One of these phenomena is gravity, the force that attracts all objects. Sure, […] Continue reading

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