Monthly Archives: February 2020

History of the Telescope

Posted on February 9, 2020 by serotakr

The telescope was first invented in the Netherlands in 1608. Its design quickly spread across Europe until it reached Galileo. Galileo spent years refining and redeveloping the telescope until it was much more powerful than before. He was able to observe many new astronomical phenomena such as the moons of Jupiter. For a while, GalileoContinue reading “History of the Telescope” Continue reading →

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What Causes Tides?

Posted on February 9, 2020 by Phillip Yoon

Have you ever been fishing? If you have, you probably know that your success partially depends on whether the ocean experiences a low tide or a high tide. But do you know the science behind what causes tides? Below is a quick and simple explanation why. Tides are caused by differential gravity. We know fromContinue reading “What Causes Tides?” Continue reading →

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The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope!

Posted on February 9, 2020 by oliviabastasch

From Earth, the Sun appears to be just a glowing yellow orb. However, the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii has captured new images of the Sun that reveal its violent and explosive nature. This massive four-meter telescope has the technological capabilities that are necessary to better understand the Sun’s magnetic field and outer […] Continue reading →

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Stromatolites

Posted on February 9, 2020 by seths1

Stromatolites are layered mounds or sheet-like layers of sedimentary rock that were originally forced by growing on a layer of cyanobacteria, a single-cell microbe. Fossilized stromatolites provide a record of ancient life and tidal patterns on Earth. Millions of years ago, seas all over the world would resemble the picture above, which was taken fromContinue reading “Stromatolites” Continue reading →

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Invisible Stars Bending Space-Time with Gravity

Posted on February 9, 2020 by alexsolarsystem

Researchers at the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Warsaw have recently discovered two previously invisible stars deep within the Milky Way. These binary stars (two stars that effectively orbit each other) were found thanks to a star called Gaia16aye that is considerably farther away. A few years ago, astronomers noticed that Gaia16aye would occasionallyContinue reading “Invisible Stars Bending Space-Time with Gravity” Continue reading →

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The Moon’s Tug

Posted on February 9, 2020 by gatorsguidetothegalaxy

Three weeks ago, for my Earth System Dynamics course, I listened to a Radiolab podcast about the distance between the Earth and the Moon. In “The Times They Are a Changin’” paleontologists talk about how coral shells taught us that the Earth used to have shorter days. Their shells have tiny bands, an alternating patternContinue reading “The Moon’s Tug” Continue reading →

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How Gravity Affects Light

Posted on February 9, 2020 by Reece Boggs

Gravity exerts a force on photons, even though it has no mass. This can distort the things we see if the light that reaches us is being distorted by gravity, as seen in the picture at the top of this post. The confusing aspect of this is that gravity affects this light even though theContinue reading “How Gravity Affects Light” Continue reading →

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Blog 2- Ch 3,4,5,6: Neap and Spring Tides

Posted on February 9, 2020 by katelynmofield

Throughout this unit, we learned about tides, their causes and what influences them. In preparing for this blogpost, I came across two different kinds of tides (besides high and low tide) called “spring” and “neap” tides. These tides correlate with the moon phases, in that spring tides occur during the new or full moon, andContinue reading “Blog 2- Ch 3,4,5,6: Neap and Spring Tides” Continue reading →

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Interesting tides

Posted on February 9, 2020 by caseycao

Tides are caused by differences in magnitude between th继续阅读“Interesting tides” Continue reading →

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Nashville’s “Snow Moon”

Posted on February 9, 2020 by jackfumagalli

On the evening of Saturday February 9th, the Nashville area saw an abnormally large moon known as a super-moon. This was also a special moon because it was also known as the “snow moon.” The “snow moon” is a full or new moon of astronomical and cultural significance around the globe. The super-moon phenomenon occursContinue reading “Nashville’s “Snow Moon”” Continue reading →

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