Daily Archives: April 27, 2017

Blog #8: Aliens?

Posted on April 27, 2017 by zhengastronomy

One of the most common questions people have when they look at the sky is, “Are there any other life out there?” Many would think yes. Many, many stories, shows, and games have been made about alien species living out there. The math also adds up. While the Drake Equation isn’t exact, using any reasonable … Continue reading Blog #8: Aliens? Continue reading →

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First Super-Earth Exoplanet with Atmosphere Discovered

Posted on April 27, 2017 by njelinek425

Earlier this month, scientists discovered the existence of an atmosphere on an exoplanet much like Earth, making this the first Earth-like exoplanet with atmosphere to have been detected aside from earth itself. The planet is named GJ 1132b, located in the constellation Vela as a planet of the low-mass star GJ 1132. The planet is […] Continue reading →

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BLOG #7-Discovering New Planets

Posted on April 27, 2017 by zhengastronomy

On April 26th 2017, Scientists from NASA discovered a curious exoplanet named OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb orbiting a small brown dwarf star 13,000 light years away with a mass only 7.8 percent of that of the Sun. This curious planet has a mass similar to that of earth and orbits its mother star at the same distance as … Continue reading BLOG #7-Discovering New Planets Continue reading →

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Exoplanets 🌌

Posted on April 27, 2017 by mariabulanova

What is an exoplanet? “An extrasolar planet, or exoplanet, is any planet that orbits a star other than the Sun”, – Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Over the years we have discovered many exoplanets of any size, temperature, surface, etc. But how to astronomers do this? How do you find an exoplanet? These planets are very small and […] Continue reading →

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Monkeys in Space!

Posted on April 27, 2017 by Haley's Comet

The pioneer monkey in space was named Albert II. On his mission, he made it 83 miles above the Earth. However, despite surviving the trip up, Albert II died when his parachute malfunctioned on his way down.  On his trip, he was under anesthesia, and attached to sensors so that scientists could monitor his vitals… Continue reading Monkeys in Space! Continue reading →

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The Pioneer Plaque

Posted on April 27, 2017 by josiezd

While unlikely that Pioneer 10 will reach another civilization, NASA (mainly Carl Sagan and Frank Drake) provided Pioneer 10 with a plaque that would hopefully tell another intelligent civilization about our own civilization on Earth. Continue reading →

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Beyond our Solar System

Posted on April 27, 2017 by Haley's Comet

Extrasolar planets are a recent discovery in the time of our Universe. So far, there are 3,475 confirmed exoplanets. These planets are most often comparable to the gas and ice giants that we have in our Solar System. However, there is a constant search for planets that are similar to ours: in the habitable zone around their respective… Continue reading Beyond our Solar System Continue reading →

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The Arecibo Message

Posted on April 27, 2017 by Nick Belsten

The Arecibo Observatory was constructed in 1963 as the world’s largest and most sensitive radio telescope. Sitting in a naturally spherical valley in Puerto Rico, this telescope looks decidedly different from the pristine optics associated with optical telescopes such as the Keck Observatory or the Hubble Space Telescope. This is because the Arecibo Observatory peers … Continue reading The Arecibo Message → Continue reading →

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