Author Archives: araceal

Creation and Structure of the Milky Way

Our Solar System, the Milky Way, was created from a dense could of interstellar dust and gas that collapsed and turned into a swirling, spinning nebula.  This nebular is made up of hydrogen and helium, and a little amount of other elements, which combined together and reacted in order to create other materials which in […] Continue reading

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Opportunity and Spirit

Opportunity and Spirit are two rovers that have been to the incredible Red Planet – Mars.  Opportunity launched out of Florida in 2003 and landed on Mars in 2004, which was soon after its twin Spirit landed. Opportunity is one of the more well known rovers, in that it broke a record of operating for […] Continue reading

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Retrogrades

Have you ever thought about why planets in our night sky sometimes appear to be moving backwards? Well, this phenomenon is known as retrograde motion. It is not as strange as it sounds. Retrograde occurs when a planet is moving in the sky and appears to be moving backwards from our perspective on Earth –  […] Continue reading

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Historical Astronomers In Context

a. Nicolas Copernicus was born on February 19, 1473 and died on May 24, 1543. Johannes Kepler was born on December 27, 1571 and died on November 15, 1630. Tycho Brahe was born on December 14, 1546 and died on October 24, 1601. Galileo Galilei was born on February 15, 1564 and died on January […] Continue reading

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We Already Have a Time Machine

People say time traveling doesnt exist. They are skeptical we are able to break every law of physics we grew up learning. But, if we really think about it, we have a time machine right in front of us: a telescope. What is a light year? Don’t be confused with the word ‘year’ being in […] Continue reading

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