Monthly Archives: February 2022

Gravity in Solar System

Acceleration due to gravity (g) is different for different planets due to their diverse masses and radii. Physicists usually figure out the by the formula g = GM/r**2, where G is the Universal Constant of Gravitation (6.67 * 10**(-11)), M is the mass of the planet, and r is the radius of the planet. By […] Continue reading

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Tides on Titan

As we learned in class, different celestial bodies can have varying tidal forces depending on their masses in relation to the object of interest. This phenomenon was mainly explored by the tidal forces on the Earth by the Moon and the Sun. In order to calculate the gravitational forces between two objects, we utilized the […] Continue reading

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Black holes and spacetime | blog post II

Black holes are areas in spacetime where the gravitational force is so strong that nothing can escape. This includes forms of electromagnetic radiation like light. Current general relativistic models depict black holes as a taking on spheroid shapes, with an interminably long “tail” leading to its point of singularity. Singularity is a geometric point where […] Continue reading

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Archeoastronomy: the Ancient Greeks

The quest for knowledge about the universe we live in is not a modern phenomenon. Many cultures throughout history have devoted a significant amount of time and resources in pursuit of this knowledge. One ancient civilization that dramatically improved our knowledge of astronomy was the ancient Greeks. One of the main goals of Greek astronomers […] Continue reading

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We know the way

A long time ago, before we had our fancy GPS and siri to tell us where to go and how to get to and from places, we had to rely on the sky, more specifically the stars (the Sun included). We learned to use the stars and Sun to tell time and by creating angle […] Continue reading

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Galileo Galilei: Galileo Galilei revolutionized the field of Astronomy by providing conclusive evidence to disprove astronomical misconceptions that had stagnated humanities understanding of the solar system, and the universe, for more than a thousand years. Prior to Galileo, scientists asserted that Earth could not be moving because under that scenario a falling object would land […] Continue reading

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Historical Astronomers in Context

I chose to learn more about Galileo (February 15, 1564 – January 8, 1642). Two major historical events that happened during Galileo’s lifetime were: On May 14, 1607, when Galileo was around 43, the colony of Jamestown was founded in what is now Virginia. Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in North America. In […] Continue reading

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Nicholas Copernicus was born on February 19, 1473 and died on May 24, 1543. During the time that he was alive, a couple of historically interesting things happened. Of course, Copernicus himself was the first modern astronomer to propose a…

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Nicolaus Copernicus (February 19, 1473 – May 24, 1543) is very well-known for his heliocentric theory which postulated that the sun is the center of the solar system. It had been widely believed that the earth was the center of the universe and it wasn’t until Copernicus that this belief began to shift. Initially the […] Continue reading

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Historical Astronomers In Context

Nicholas Copernicus: Nicholas Copernicus was extremely impactful to the astronomical world and to society as a whole. Up until Copernicus, the world believed that the earth was the ‘center’ of the universe. Copernicus created the Heliocentric model of the Solar System, saying that the Earth revolves around the sun along with other planets. In 1532, […] Continue reading

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