Monthly Archives: January 2019

Bright Lights (and not much else)

Matchbox Twenty’s Bright Lights. CeeLo Green’s Bright Lights Bigger City. My personal favorite is Sara Bareilles’s Bright Lights and Cityscapes. There is no shortage of songs about… Read more “Bright Lights (and not much else)” Continue reading

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A Brief History of Precession

The priests of ancient Babylonia and Egypt were pioneer astronomers – they studied the sky, mapped constellations, and noted movements in both the Sun and the Moon – but, it was a Greek astronomer, Hipparchus, who made the first major new discovery in astronomy: precession. Comparing observations more than a century apart (particularly those done by … Continue reading A Brief History of Precession Continue reading

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Blog #1: Solar Eclipse Calendar

A solar eclipse is when the moon comes between the sun and the Earth and completely or partially blocks the light from the sun. This can only occur when the moon is at the nodes of its orbit and when its precession allows it to be in this position while being between the sun and … Continue reading Blog #1: Solar Eclipse Calendar Continue reading

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The Cosmic Calendar

The Cosmic Calendar is the life of the universe condensed into a calendar year. It begins on January 1st at midnight and ends on December 31st just before midnight. The noteworthy time on this calendar is 8pm on December 1st: the start of human life. The universe is approximately 14 billion years old, so humans … Continue reading The Cosmic Calendar Continue reading

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Life on the Moon!!…Kinda

Does extraterrestrial life exist? Can living things even survive on another world? These are questions that have been asked for a long time and continue to be asked today. China tried to address the latter recently by experimenting with cotton seeds along with 6 other organisms, including potato seeds and fruit fly eggs, on their … Continue reading Life on the Moon!!…Kinda Continue reading

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The Cosmic Calendar: Humanities Brief Reign

In the grand scheme of the Universe, mankind has been around for an almost unfathomably short amount of time. Condensing the span of the universe into one calendar year we see clearly how our mark on the universe has barely just happened. All of what what we consider “modern” history takes place on December 31st, … Continue reading The Cosmic Calendar: Humanities Brief Reign Continue reading

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The Moon & Human Behavior

In Chapter 2 we learned about the phases of the moon and important astronomical events such as solar and lunar eclipses. After reading this chapter, I thought back to the solar eclipse my freshman year when my friend said that the eclipse altered the behavior of animals and people within its range. At the time, … Continue reading The Moon & Human Behavior Continue reading

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The Moon & Human Behavior

In Chapter 2 we learned about the phases of the moon and important astronomical events such as solar and lunar eclipses. After reading this chapter, I thought back to the solar eclipse my freshman year when my friend said that the eclipse altered the behavior of animals and people within its range. At the time, […] Continue reading

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Power of Ten Reaction

I have a wall in my dorm room where I have started to post quotes that I love. After watching the Power of Ten video, I think I may have another quote that I will post to my wall collection. Philip Morrison, the narrator in the video, says: “This lonely scene, the galaxies like dust, … Continue reading Power of Ten Reaction Continue reading

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Milankovitch Cycle

As we all know, the Earth experiences seasons each year. These are due to the tilt of Earth’s rotational axis, which causes certain areas of the earth to receive more direct sunlight during parts of the year, which has obvious effects on yearly climate. Interestingly, the Earth’s seasons also shift around on the calendar year. … Continue reading Milankovitch Cycle Continue reading

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