Author Archives: hughavanheesewijk

Hugh van Heesewijk 2014-04-29 14:12:20

Posted on April 29, 2014 by hughavanheesewijk

  Throughout the semester we have learned the ins and outs of many topics. We have learned topics ranging from the formation of atmospheres to the formation of solar systems. However, I feel that the topics that I have most benefitted from have been the ones that I can see every day. I love being able […] Continue reading →

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Arctic Lake Extremophiles

Posted on April 29, 2014 by hughavanheesewijk

We have been learning a lot about extremophiles and whether they would be able to survive on other worlds, specifically within out solar system. I found an article on Wired that pointed to a discovery of microbes in a brine lake located beneath 65 feet of ice in Antarctica. This extremophile had to survive in […] Continue reading →

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Asteroids and Impacts in Perspective

Posted on April 9, 2014 by hughavanheesewijk

When asked to think of massive impacts that our Earth has experienced one would most probably think first to the impact that happened 65 million years ago that caused the extinction of dinosaurs. When you look back further to the period of heavy bombardment you will uncover truly terrific impacts. Specifically an impact that occurred […] Continue reading →

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Io is Outrageously Hot

Posted on April 9, 2014 by hughavanheesewijk

Io is known for being extremely volcanic. By just looking at images of Jupiter’s closest moon you can assume that this is a particularly hot world. Io’s scalding heat is caused by the extreme tidal forces that act upon it. Now when we compare the heat flow on Io to the heat flow on Earth it is possible to […] Continue reading →

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Dinnertime for our Supermassive Black Hole

Posted on March 17, 2014 by hughavanheesewijk

For the first time we will be able to see our supermassive black consume a gas cloud. We have not been able to see our black hole in action yet so this provides an excellent opportunity to learn more about this mysterious thing at the middle of our galaxy. However, scientists are not really sure […] Continue reading →

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Polar Ice Caps of Mars

Posted on March 17, 2014 by hughavanheesewijk

Mars has seasons just like Earth. However, its seasons are primarily affected by the change in Mar’s distance from the Sun. Because of Mar’s elliptical orbit it is much closer to the Sun during the northern hemisphere’s winter and much further from the Sun during the northern hemisphere’s summer. Seasonal changes on Mars cause the […] Continue reading →

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Our Bodies on Mars

Posted on February 17, 2014 by hughavanheesewijk

I discovered an interesting article from the magazine Wired about the importance of gravity when it comes to our bodies’ ability to function. It specifically discussed the challenges of colonizing Mars in regards to gravity. Of course before we can think about the challenges of living on Mars we would have to overcome the challenges […] Continue reading →

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The IceCube

Posted on February 17, 2014 by hughavanheesewijk

There is a special telescope located in Antarctica accurately called the IceCube that has a very specific task.  The IceCube is supposed to find neutrinos. Neutrinos are high-energy subatomic particles that are supposedly made from tremendously energetic events far extremely far away from us. These neutrinos have “more than a 1,000 times the energy of […] Continue reading →

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Historical Astronomers in Context – Tycho Brahe

Posted on February 9, 2014 by hughavanheesewijk

Tycho Brahe (December 14th, 1546 – October 24th, 1601) was the last of the most famous naked eye astronomers. He used his accurate observations made using telescopes to conclude that supernovae were tailless comets that were closer to Earth than the moon. He also concluded that comets passed through the celestial sphere. He threw away the […] Continue reading →

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Hybrid Solar Eclipse

Posted on January 27, 2014 by hughavanheesewijk

Eclipses can be very beautiful things. We can all go online and look up images of solar eclipses taken from Earth. You can either see a total solar eclipse, where the sun in completely covered by the moon, or an annular where the sun is only partially covered by the moon because the moon is […] Continue reading →

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