Monthly Archives: May 2021

Extraterrestrial Existence

Posted on May 4, 2021 by allyworthington

Shouldn’t Earth have been visited by extraterrestrials already? Enrico Fermi, a physicist from Italy, asked the same question in 1950 and sparked a wonderful conversation in the field of astronomy and astrobiology. In 1975, Michael Hart published “An Explanation for the Absence of Extraterrestrials on Earth,” noting that the lack of intelligent life from the … Continue reading Extraterrestrial Existence → Continue reading →

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Life on Europa?

Posted on May 4, 2021 by connorrobbwilcox

There is life in all forms throughout the world. Even in the most remote places with the most extreme conditions we have seen life not only survive but thrive. This makes us wonder, could there be life on possible habitable worlds? NASA put this to the test by conducting an infrared (IR) signature of oneContinue reading “Life on Europa?” Continue reading →

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Life on Earth

Posted on May 4, 2021 by lauryn28

In my last blog post I would like to discuss some of the things I’ve found most interesting in the course of the semester. As this class has come to an end, I’ve found myself more and more astounded by how our Solar System formed than ever before, specifically the ability of Earth to sustainContinue reading “Life on Earth” Continue reading →

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The Fermi Paradox and the Great Filter

Posted on May 4, 2021 by lauryn28

According to Kardashev scale, proposed by astronomer Nikolai Kardashev, there are three types of civilizations. Type I has the ability to use the energy of their planet, Type II can use the energy of their host star and Type III can access an amount of power comparable to an entire galaxy. Based on the extremely largeContinue reading “The Fermi Paradox and the Great Filter” Continue reading →

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Tardigrades!

Posted on May 4, 2021 by bellagoodnight

Tardigrades, moss piglets, water bears – these adorably ugly extremophiles go by many names. These little creatures are fascinating beyond just their strange appearance and many nicknames. Tardigrades are extremophiles because they have shown to survive both extreme temperature and extreme pressure, most notably in space! They are found on Earth in various environments includingContinue reading “Tardigrades!” Continue reading →

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The End of an Era

Posted on May 4, 2021 by 20harriganc

Sadly, this will be the last post of the solarblogdotcom. Through out theses posts we have explored many of the amazingly interesting topics of the solar system. Although the picture above shows the Galaxy, It is still a great photo to end on, because you never truly know whats out there until you look forContinue reading “The End of an Era” Continue reading →

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May the 4th be with you: the Twin Suns of Tatooine

Posted on May 4, 2021 by brandonlipper

One of my recent blogs crushed the dreams of many Star Wars fans by debunking the close proximity of asteroids within an asteroid field in The Empire Strikes Back. That is why, in the spirit of Star Wars Day, I will be sharing an aspect of the films that Star Wars ended up getting correct:Continue reading “May the 4th be with you: the Twin Suns of Tatooine” Continue reading →

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Drake Equation

Posted on May 4, 2021 by 20harriganc

The Drake equation is an equation that helps find out the possibility of alien civilizations. As shown above the N represents the number of civilizations with advanced technology through out the milky way. The equation is particularly interesting because depending on the person, you can find out if the person is a pessimist or anContinue reading “Drake Equation” Continue reading →

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NASA’s Picture of the Day

Posted on May 4, 2021 by mwdobson3

For the class Astronomical Experiences assignment, I was going to write about NASA’s May 3rd, 2021 Astronomy Picture of the Day. As I went to search for the daily image, I also found a PBS Nova video on the Mars mission involving Perseverance and I was hooked. Now that I can blog about anything forContinue reading “NASA’s Picture of the Day” Continue reading →

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Our Milky Way Galaxy

Posted on May 4, 2021 by captivatingcomet

The Milky Way is a large barred spiral galaxy with four arms: the Sagittarius arm, Perseus arm, Outer arm, and Scutum-Centaurus arm. Majority of the stars in the Milky Way are single or binary stars; however, there are three distinct types of star clusters, collections of tens to thousands of stars, within the galaxy. TheseContinue reading “Our Milky Way Galaxy” Continue reading →

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