Author Archives: josiezd

The Pioneer Plaque

Posted on April 27, 2017 by josiezd

While unlikely that Pioneer 10 will reach another civilization, NASA (mainly Carl Sagan and Frank Drake) provided Pioneer 10 with a plaque that would hopefully tell another intelligent civilization about our own civilization on Earth. Continue reading →

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Tardigrades: Powers of the “Water Bear”

Posted on April 23, 2017 by josiezd

Hot, cold, dry, wet, and even the vacuum of space – somehow, the tardigrade can survive them all. Continue reading →

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Life on Jupiter’s Moons?

Posted on April 2, 2017 by josiezd

We might not have to look beyond our solar system to find other life. Continue reading →

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Pluto the Dwarf Planet

Posted on March 27, 2017 by josiezd

Many of us remember Pluto as the used-to-be 9th planet in our solar system that was demoted to a dwarf planet. So what makes Pluto a dwarf planet and not a planet? What is interesting about Pluto, and, if it was so small, how exactly was it discovered earlier than other dwarf planets? Continue reading →

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Formation of the Solar System

Posted on March 20, 2017 by josiezd

Approximately 13.8 billion years ago, an interstellar cloud of gas known as the solar nebula collapsed under its own gravity due to some cataclysmic event… Continue reading →

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Death by Black Hole

Posted on February 12, 2017 by josiezd

Unfortunately, astronomers and physicists are pretty sure you can’t just go through a black hole and pop out the other side – you will, in fact, die. The real question is, how exactly will you die? Continue reading →

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Archaeoastronomy

Posted on February 3, 2017 by josiezd

The study of the astronomical knowledge and achievements of these prehistoric cultures is called archaeoastronomy. Continue reading →

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The Zodiacal Constellations

Posted on January 30, 2017 by josiezd

What are the origins of the zodiac and why are the signs different now? Continue reading →

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Introduction

Posted on January 17, 2017 by josiezd

This blog is for my astronomy class about solar systems at Vanderbilt University. Continue reading →

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