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Daily Archives: April 27, 2019
Methane-Based Life
Is liquid water necessary for life to form? If judging strictly from the only life we know, of course. However, humanity’s exploration of the universe has just begun, and we can’t say for sure what lies beyond Earth. Other worlds within our solar system have organic compounds that life could possibly evolve from. In particular, … Continue reading Methane-Based Life → Continue reading
Posted in Aliens, Moons, Science, Space Travel
Tagged astro2110, blog6, life, methane, Solar System, titan
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Interstellar Travel
In many science fiction movies, spaceships race through the galaxy at extremely high speeds, seemingly ignoring many of nature’s laws that govern our universe. With what we know about the universe right now, it is impossible for any object to travel faster than the speed of light. Any man made object has not reached speeds … Continue reading Interstellar Travel Continue reading
Posted in Physics, Science
Tagged astro2110, blog7, interstellar travel
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the Fermi paradox
The Fermi paradox is named after the famous scientist Enrico Fermi. In this paradox, Fermi acknowledges the apparent contradiction between the amount of extraterrestrial life that we have detected (none) and the high probability that extraterrestrial life exists. For these “high probabilities”, Fermi was drawing on lines of reasoning similar to that presented in the…
First Image of a Black Hole
Roughly 50 million light-years away, in the center of the Messier 87 galaxy, resides a supermassive black hole that has about the cumulative mass of 6.5 billion suns. While this black hole is undoubtedly a monster, the true astonishment should come from the fact that image is the first time that scientists were able to … Continue reading First Image of a Black Hole → Continue reading
Ancient Egyptian Astronomy
The Ancient Egyptians cared a great deal about astronomy. Probably too much, in fact. According to their beliefs, the movements of the planets and stars played a role in the annual flooding of the Nile river, and if you are an Ancient Egyptian, you will do just about anything to appease the Nile, and that … Continue reading Ancient Egyptian Astronomy → Continue reading
Posted in Class, Historical
Tagged astro2110, blog7, Solar System
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Blog 6: The Fermi Paradox
The Fermi Paradox is the apparent contradiction between the lack of evidence for extra-solar civilizations and the fact that there is a high probability that many Earth-like planets exist that are older than ours and that it would conceivably be possible to explore the galaxy in a couple million years. Simply stated, where are the … Continue reading Blog 6: The Fermi Paradox → Continue reading
Hydrothermal Vents: The Origin of Life?
Astrobiology is becoming an increasingly discussed topic as new exoplanets are being found and we discover more about the worlds of our own solar system. Of course, for there to be life on other planets, it first needs to come into existence on its own through abiogenesis, or the creation of life through non-biological sources. … Continue reading Hydrothermal Vents: The Origin of Life? → Continue reading
Posted in Class, Physics
Tagged astro2110, blog6, Solar System
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SETI isn’t Science: Why the Search for Aliens is a Waste of Resources
The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) has been ongoing for about 60 years now, and it’s time to reconsider if it’s worth the millions of dollars and hours it burns every year. To start off, I want to make the case that SETI isn’t real science. It’s a faith-based effort that isn’t falsifiable. An article … Continue reading SETI isn’t Science: Why the Search for Aliens is a Waste of Resources → Continue reading
The Drake Equation
We hear about aliens all the time, whether in books or movies or tv shows, and this leads us to ponder our own existence. Are we alone, or is there other life out there? This is a question that has plagued mankind since begun exploring interstellar space, and started looking for life in our own … Continue reading The Drake Equation Continue reading
Posted in Exoplanets, Science
Tagged astro2110, blog6, drake equation
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Finale – Culminate Post
I learned much more than I thought I would in this course. Before taking this class, all I really knew about our solar system was that there are 8 planets (and Earth is the third one), the asteroid belt is a thing, Jupiter is big, and Saturn is the planet with pretty rings. I didn’t … Continue reading Finale – Culminate Post → Continue reading
Posted in Class, General
Tagged astro2110, blog7, Solar System
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