Author Archives: clairesspacejam

Kepler-1649c

Posted on April 22, 2020 by clairesspacejam

After traveling 94 million miles into deep space, the journey of NASA’s Kepler space telescope was finally completed in October of 2018. Operational since 2009, the telescope was able to detect a total of 2,681 exoplanets before running out of fuel. The archival data retrieved by Kepler will have immense value as it is continuedContinue reading “Kepler-1649c” Continue reading →

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Sirens of Titan

Posted on March 29, 2020 by clairesspacejam

The lectures from this unit, especially chapter 11 about the Jovian planets, reminded me of one of my favorite books; Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut. The novel is a comical science fiction story that chronicles the origin of Malachi Constant, a profit predestined to be sent into space and return to start a newContinue reading “Sirens of Titan” Continue reading →

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It’s Getting Hot in Here

Posted on March 15, 2020 by clairesspacejam

I thoroughly enjoyed our class discussion about the origins of the hot, molten core of Earth. It is cool to think about how the modern heat in our planet’s interior is a result of thousands of years of activity and energy transfer. As we learned in class, a planet derives internal heat from three sourcesContinue reading “It’s Getting Hot in Here” Continue reading →

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Grey Whale Migration

Posted on March 15, 2020 by clairesspacejam

Over this spring break, I came across an intriguing article in National Geographic that illustrated the closeness of space to life on Earth. The authors review a recently published study in the field of marine biology that suggests new insights into the way grey whales migrate. Grey whales have one of the furthest migrations ofContinue reading “Grey Whale Migration” Continue reading →

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Alphonso X

Posted on February 10, 2020 by clairesspacejam

Every time I pick up The Cosmic Perspective to do the assigned reading, I end up learning something new and exciting. This unit, while I was reading Chapter 3 “The Science of Astronomy” one particular part struck me. The textbook mentions a Spanish monarch named Alphonso X who lived from 1221 to 1284. Alphonso XContinue reading “Alphonso X” Continue reading →

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Blue Moon

Posted on January 20, 2020 by clairesspacejam

I’m sure you have heard the phrase “once in a blue moon” which is widely used to describe rare or seldom events. However, it wasn’t until I was in high school that I learned the true origins of the colloquial phrase. After seeing an article headline announcing the occurrence of a blue moon, my friendContinue reading “Blue Moon” Continue reading →

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Introductory Post

Posted on January 13, 2020 by clairesspacejam

Welcome to my astronomy blog! In my first post, I would like to talk about the idea astrology in order to introduce some of my personality and discuss what I learned in the reading this week. I have a twin brother with a wildly different personality so I have always been skeptical of astrological personalityContinue reading “Introductory Post” Continue reading →

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