Author Archives: alicebyrnes

What’s Next?

Posted on April 29, 2023 by alicebyrnes

While I’ve always been vaguely interested in astronomy, before taking this class some part of my brain assumed we had somewhat stagnated on space exploration. This is largely because I knew other stars and galaxies were so far away, and we just don’t have the technology to travel to them. Ultimately, this class helped me […] Continue reading →

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JUICE Explorer

Posted on April 29, 2023 by alicebyrnes

As discussed briefly in class, the European Space Agency (ESA) just successfully launched the Juice (formerly JUICE: JUpiter ICy moons Explorer) mission on April 14th! I had no idea this mission even existed before it was mentioned, so I decided to explore it further. The goal of this mission is focused on Jupiter’s moons. While […] Continue reading →

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A Tiny Black Hole?

Posted on April 10, 2023 by alicebyrnes

Black holes have always fascinated me, so here I am, writing a second blog post about them. I recently read a sci-fi novel that involved a man-made black hole. It was incredibly massive, but only the size of a pinprick. This led me to wondering, what are the smallest black holes we’ve discovered in real […] Continue reading →

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What do we know about the Oort Cloud?

Posted on April 10, 2023 by alicebyrnes

Not much is known about the Oort Cloud, because it is simply so far away! Rather than being a disk like the asteroid and Kuiper belts, it is thought to be a spherical shell that surrounds the Solar system. The precise bounds of the cloud are not known, but it is thought to extend from […] Continue reading →

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The Other Side of a Black Hole

Posted on March 7, 2023 by alicebyrnes

Based on Einstein’s theory of relativity, black holes have a theoretical opposite know as “white holes”. Rather than it being impossible for matter to exit (as is the case with black holes), it would be impossible for matter to enter a white hole. Physically, it would look very similar to a black hole: the only […] Continue reading →

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Determining Saturn’s Rotation Speed

Posted on March 7, 2023 by alicebyrnes

Throughout the 1900s, planetary rotation speeds was generally measured in one of two ways: observing the frequency of which fixed features on planets’ surfaces appear, or observing the patterns of the magnetic field, which change periodically when the magnetic field isn’t aligned with the planet’s axis of rotation. For example, both Earth and Jupiter have […] Continue reading →

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The “Why?” behind Synchronous Rotation

Posted on February 12, 2023 by alicebyrnes

As we’ve discussed in class, the Moon revolves about the Earth in synchronous rotation, meaning it rotates such that the same side of the Moon always faces the Earth. Not only does the Moon do this, but all moons in our solar system do as well. (The information for this blog post is sourced here.) […] Continue reading →

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Posted on February 2, 2023 by alicebyrnes

Johannes Kepler (Born Dec 27th, 1571 and died Nov 15th, 1630) made a vital contribution to astronomy in the form of his three laws of gravitation. His laws, which he did not consider “laws” at the time, were based off a theological framework.  Kepler’s work with Tycho Brahe let him access the data to discover […] Continue reading →

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Achieving Light Speed: Curvature Propulsion

Posted on January 21, 2023 by alicebyrnes

Space curvature propulsion is a theoretical idea that has been explored through science fiction (including Cixin Liu’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy) as method of allowing ships to travel through space at or beyond the speed of light. While this idea currently resides firmly in the realm of science fiction, the theoretical basis is rooted […] Continue reading →

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Introduction!

Posted on January 14, 2023 by alicebyrnes

Hello! I’m Alice, and this photo is taken in the Smoky Mountains over Fall Break! I love spending time outdoors and hiking, and fortunately was able to do a lot of it over the course of this past fall semester. Continue reading →

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