Author Archives: AndreaS

The Moons of Saturn

There are many moons of Saturn, but the two largest are Titan and Enceladus. Titan is an enormous moon, the second largest in the Solar System after Jupiter’s Ganymede. It is notable for its thick atmosphere, which is made up of mostly Nitrogen compounds. Its surface is characterized as geologically young, with evidence of lakes […] Continue reading

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The Moons of Jupiter

Jupiter has many moons, but the largest of them are the Galilean moon, Ganymede, Callisto, Europa, and Io. This post will explore the defining features of these Jovian moons. The largest of Jupiter’s moons is Ganymede, the largest moon in the Solar System. In fact, Ganymede is larger than Mercury. This moon has a liquid […] Continue reading

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The Evolution of Earth’s Atmosphere

So many of Earth’s features today, from our blue sky to life itself, depend on the atmosphere surrounding the planet, but it has taken billions of years to evolve to where it is today. This post will explore the evolution and progression of Earth’s atmosphere as well as the processes that led to these changes. […] Continue reading

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The Orion Nebula

If you have participated in observing for class, then you have seen through a telescope the Orion Nebula. Nebulae are star-forming regions that when studied can tell us lots about how stars and solar systems come to be, and the Orion Nebula is no different. When we look at the Orion Nebula through a telescope, […] Continue reading

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Historical Vanderbilt Astronomer

If you have spent much time in E. Bronson Ingram residential college on Vanderbilt’s campus, you may have noticed that part of the dorm is named after one Edward Emerson Barnard. As it turns out, Barnard was an astronomer who attended the university from 1883-1887. His research focused on observation and photography of stars and […] Continue reading

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Historical Astronomers in Context

In this post we will be discussing Galileo Galilei in context of his historical era. But first, a little detail about Galilei himself. Galileo Galilei is notable for his astronomical work with the telescope. Using the apparatus that could magnify objects to 20 times their size, he was able to observe the surface of the […] Continue reading

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Nashville’s Partial Lunar Eclipse

Last November, Nashville witnessed a near-total lunar eclipse. Many of you likely remember hearing about it on the news or even stayed up late to see it – but why the commotion? What made this particular event noteworthy? To understand this, we will first explore the phenomena of lunar eclipses in general. Lunar eclipses occur […] Continue reading

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Welcome!

Hello my name is Andrea and I am a senior studying chemical engineering at Vanderbilt. This blog will explore space and space-related content. Enjoy! Continue reading

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