Daily Archives: February 10, 2020

Gravity’s Effect on Light

Light appears almost instantaneous to the naked eye. This seems especially evident on the Fourth of July, watching a firework explode, only for the boom to hit you seconds after the colorful light hits your eyes. It does not seem like something so fast and instant could be affected by a force such as gravity.Continue reading “Gravity’s Effect on Light” Continue reading

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What is celestial navigation?

Those who use the placement of stars in the night sky in order to determine where to go to are using a practice called celestial navigation. Ancient peoples noticed the patterns associated with stars in the night sky and were able to study and record them in order to teach the following generations how toContinue reading “What is celestial navigation?” Continue reading

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Gravity Waves

Gravity waves have been speculated to exist ever since Einstein set a speed limit to the universe, the speed of light. When Newton came up with the gravitational force equation, it only considered mass and distance when calculating the force. It did not take into account that if one mass disappeared, then that information ofContinue reading “Gravity Waves” Continue reading

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Alphonso X

Every time I pick up The Cosmic Perspective to do the assigned reading, I end up learning something new and exciting. This unit, while I was reading Chapter 3 “The Science of Astronomy” one particular part struck me. The textbook mentions a Spanish monarch named Alphonso X who lived from 1221 to 1284. Alphonso XContinue reading “Alphonso X” Continue reading

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Time Warps- More Than Just Sci-Fi?

Space travel is a relatively new concept compared to the overall age of astronomy. From Armstrong to Koch, sending people into space is still an amazing feat with distances that don’t dare to go beyond our moon. But what if this could change? What if, like our telescopes, we could travel to Jupiter or PlutoContinue reading “Time Warps- More Than Just Sci-Fi?” Continue reading

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Celestial Navigation throughout History

Like many other technologies, one might assume that celestial navigation has only been truly developed efficiently in recent times with our technology. But you may be surprised to know that many of the techniques we use today were invented centuries ago, or even thousands of years! Celestial navigation is the practice of using angles betweenContinue reading “Celestial Navigation throughout History” Continue reading

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scattering: light and sunsets/sunrises

This morning I woke up to a beautiful sunrise (pictured) and got to pondering how the colors came to be. Apparently, they result from a process called scattering, a process by which small particles in the the atmosphere change the direction of light rays, causing them to scatter. Although scattering affects the color of lightContinue reading “scattering: light and sunsets/sunrises” Continue reading

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Our Place in the Universe

How did you first picture the universe? Before being taught in school or at home what the universe was like, we often start to wonder about the world around us. This phase in a child’s life often leads to parents being questioned about almost everything. Questions range from why the sky is blue, why isContinue reading “Our Place in the Universe” Continue reading

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The Historical Advancement of Astronomy

After completing the homework assignment on historical astronomers, I found myself diving into the internet to find out more on the astronomers we researched. This trip down the wormhole of the internet led me to an article about Isaac Newton, titled: “What if there was no Apple tree?” This article ponders what would have happenedContinue reading “The Historical Advancement of Astronomy” Continue reading

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A Tidal Boat Dance 🌊

The above GIF shows the changing tides in a unique manner, by splicing together pictures taken throughout an entire day, at 20 minute intervals! The resulting effect is that it looks as if time is spiraling around the image. You can also see both pairs of high and low tides, one set during the day … Continue reading A Tidal Boat Dance 🌊 Continue reading

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