Author Archives: laurenegish

Voyager Golden Record

Posted on April 28, 2018 by laurenegish

  NASA launched the two Voyager missions in 1977. On these two missions was something different though. Voyager 1 and 2 both possessed a record and a record player as a way to contact with any potential intelligent life that the missions come across. So what exactly is on these records? The answer is a … Continue reading Voyager Golden Record → Continue reading →

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Our Solar System– On Earth

Posted on April 21, 2018 by laurenegish

Two weeks ago, I was in Gainesville, Florida when I saw the solar system pass me by as I drove down the street. I was so excited to spot a solar system model because I thought the only model that existed in the country was at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Spotting this solar … Continue reading Our Solar System– On Earth → Continue reading →

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Planet Nine

Posted on April 5, 2018 by laurenegish

  Planet Nine Orbit In January of 2016, some scientists suggested that our Solar System may yet again be comprised of nine planets, but how did they come to this conclusion? Well, scientists observed that way out in our outer solar system, some Kuiper Belt objects had unusual orbits that were similar to each other. … Continue reading Planet Nine → Continue reading →

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The Potential (and the Potential Challenges) of Life on Europa

Posted on March 26, 2018 by laurenegish

When discussing the potential of finding life in our solar system, people are inclined to think of discovering large and complex life forms such as humans on another planet. Surprisingly, if we are to find life in our solar system outside of Earth, it will most likely be in the form of microorganisms within another … Continue reading The Potential (and the Potential Challenges) of Life on Europa → Continue reading →

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Martian Dust Devils

Posted on March 18, 2018 by laurenegish

  Martian dust devils are much like tornadoes on Earth. Both storms form the same way, but what distinguishes these dust devils from the tornadoes on Earth is that they are much bigger ( 1-2 km across and 8-10 km wide!) and the fact that dust devils occur much more frequently on Mars than tornadoes … Continue reading Martian Dust Devils → Continue reading →

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Archaeoastronomy

Posted on February 12, 2018 by laurenegish

 Stonehenge The concept of time is something that is invaluable to humans. The passage of time brings with it changes in weather, seasons, rainfall, and daylight. Especially during the beginning of civilizations, it was important to understand how much time passed to keep track of the changing conditions. In order to keep track of the … Continue reading Archaeoastronomy → Continue reading →

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The Life of Low Mass Stars

Posted on February 6, 2018 by laurenegish

Birth of Star S106 IR Birth: Emerging from a cloud of gas and dust called a nebula, a star forms when gravity pulls hydrogen gas from the nebula together and spins it around at such a fast rate that it heats up. This creates what is known as a “protostar”. Once the soon-to-be star’s temperature … Continue reading The Life of Low Mass Stars → Continue reading →

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Posted on February 5, 2018 by laurenegish

Johannes Kepler was born on Dec. 27, 1571 and died on May 21, 1630. He was important to astronomy because he made 3 key astronomical discoveries. First, and arguably most importantly, he discovered that planetary orbits are ellipses and not perfect circles as is it was popularly believed to be at the time. This was … Continue reading Historical Astronomers in Context → Continue reading →

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The Last 2 Minutes of History

Posted on January 22, 2018 by laurenegish

Down on Earth, it’s easy to think the passage of 100 years is a long time. After all, it’s certainly longer than a human’s life expectancy. However, after hearing that modern humans can only be accounted for in 2 minutes of history, it’s hard to believe that the time spanning from the origins of modern … Continue reading The Last 2 Minutes of History → Continue reading →

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First Blog Post

Posted on January 14, 2018 by laurenegish

My name is Lauren and I’m a freshman from Charlotte, NC. I included a picture that I took over the break when I went to my favorite beach, Kiawah Island, in South Carolina. Continue reading →

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