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Author Archives: Caroline Henning
Where are the Aliens
The famous Fermi paradox asks a famous question: considering calculations that say we probably should have encountered extraterrestrial forms of life by now, why have we not? We wonder about the existence of intelligent life in the Universe other than our own. It is only natural, considering our own species’ discussion about possible colonization of … Continue reading Where are the Aliens → Continue reading
Black Holes Eating Stars, Get Hungrier
The content of this post is based from an article on Space.com titled, “A Hungry Black Hole Devoured a Star, and Its ‘Burp’ Revealed How It Chowed Down”. So, yeah, this is about to be exciting. In the cataclysmic event known as ASASSN-14li, a star passed too close to a black hole. The enormous gravity … Continue reading Black Holes Eating Stars, Get Hungrier → Continue reading
~Gravitational Waves~
Gravitational waves!! Only recently detected even indirectly, they offer some evidence to support Einstein’s theory of relativity from the early twentieth century. The theory states that dense, heavy objects (like Earth, for example) distort space-time in the same way a marble would bend a normally flat stretch of fabric. When two extremely dense objects (such … Continue reading ~Gravitational Waves~ → Continue reading
Planet no. 9
Pluto–a well loved member of our solar system with a short-lived reputation as a planet. Discovered in 1930, it was classified as the ninth planet in our solar system until its demotion to a dwarf planet in 2006. I remember that fateful day in elementary school science class when we got the news: Pluto was … Continue reading Planet no. 9 → Continue reading
The Death of the Sun
Unfortunately, our Solar System will not exist forever–our Sun’s lifespan is indeed finite. Sunlike stars stay on the main sequence for approximately 10 billions years. In other words, this is about how long the Sun will shine. The Sun is about 4.6 billion years old, so we may expect about 5.4 billion more years of … Continue reading The Death of the Sun → Continue reading
The Fate of the Universe
The Universe may have begun in the widely accepted theory of the Big Bang. As a simple summary, the Universe began as an infinitely small, infinitely dense singularity which has since inflated for 13.8 billion years into the Universe we know today. No single theory, however has claimed the most likely outcome for how the Universe … Continue reading The Fate of the Universe → Continue reading
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Time Travel
Anything that has mass can bend the “four dimensional fabric” of space-time. This bending in space, known as gravity, causes objects to move in a non-linear fashion through space. According to Einstein’s theory of general relativity, gravity can bend time. By this theory, time moves faster or slower depending on your speed relative to something else–if … Continue reading Time Travel → Continue reading
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Historical Astronomers in Context
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) was a German mathematician and astronomer who established the laws of planetary motion. He worked as Tycho Brahe’s apprentice. Although the two had a strained relationship, Kepler’s ability to find mathematical relationships among data proved the perfect complement to Brahe’s unparalleled observation skills. Through his work with Brahe’s observations, Kepler founded the … Continue reading Historical Astronomers in Context → Continue reading
Blog 01: Megamasers
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has recently captured an awe-inspiring picture of a distant “exotic” galaxy, UGC-6093. It is an active, barred galaxy–this means the center, featuring a bar across the illuminated center, hosts an active galactic nucleus. In this center region, matter is sucked into a supermassive black hole, thereby emitting the intense radiation that … Continue reading Blog 01: Megamasers → Continue reading
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0: First Blog Post
Blog post 0. Below is a photo of trees in North Carolina! Continue reading