Author Archives: Michael

Radioactivity is all around us

Posted on October 20, 2024 by Michael

We have learned about radioactivity in class, and we hear about it in the news, but many do not have direct experience with radiation. It is a scary word that elicits a lot of fear in most; for example, concerns about safety have stopped nuclear power from gaining dominance despite otherwise being a superior source […] Continue reading →

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Parker Solar Probe

Posted on October 18, 2024 by Michael

Today I want to talk about the Parker Solar Probe, the most interesting spacecraft that I have heard of. It is a remarkable piece of technology, and has set records as the fastest object ever built and the closest man-made object to the Sun. The Parker Solar Probe relies on gravity assists from Venus to […] Continue reading →

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Satellites and Telescopes

Posted on September 24, 2024 by Michael

For this post I wanted to discuss the effect that satellites have on astronomical observations. There are many problems that limit our ability to make observations, such as light pollution, the diffraction limit, and technological limitations. Despite this, astronomers have steadily been improving their equipment and building new complex telescopes to overcome these limitations. However, […] Continue reading →

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Posted on September 17, 2024 by Michael

Tycho Brahe: 12/14/1546 – 10/14/1601 Brahe has been described as the greatest astronomer before the invention of the telescope. He was devoted towards building new measurement instruments with unprecedented levels of accuracy, which were necessary for his discoveries. A few of his most notable observations include the annual variation in the orbital speed of the […] Continue reading →

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Blog 1: Cosmic Calendar and Biology

Posted on September 3, 2024 by Michael

When we learned about the cosmic calendar in this class, I was immediately reminded of something I had learned two years ago in BSCI 1511 here at Vanderbilt, which was the biological timescale clock. I remember seeing this diagram and being really surprised by how recent humans, or even multicellular organisms, are in the history […] Continue reading →

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Introduction

Posted on August 29, 2024 by Michael

This is a picture I took while backpacking the Appalachin trail a few weeks ago. I stayed in PATC shelters while doing that. Continue reading →

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