Author Archives: lawlorsolarsystem

Is Extra-Terrestrial Communication a Good Thing?

Posted on April 26, 2016 by lawlorsolarsystem

We have talked in class about sending out signals and messages to other potential other civilizations to let them know that we are here, but should we really be doing that? It’s open for debate. Frank Drake himself found “Active SETI to be, at best, a stunt and generally a waste of time.” (Source). To […] Continue reading →

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Io

Posted on April 7, 2016 by lawlorsolarsystem

Io is Jupiter’s third largest moon. What is notable about Io is that it is the most geologically active body in the entire Solar System. It is extremely volcanic, and is the only body other than Earth that we  have observed with active volcanism. The volcanic activity occurs because Io is greatly affected by tides […] Continue reading →

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The Fermi Paradox

Posted on March 15, 2016 by lawlorsolarsystem

The Fermi Paradox is a fascinating paradox that asks why, in a universe as vast as ours, we have not seen any other signs of life as of now. There are many different possible explanations and they are all very complex but I will attempt to detail some of them below: One possible explanation is […] Continue reading →

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Venus’s Atmosphere

Posted on March 15, 2016 by lawlorsolarsystem

Venus is of a similar size to Earth, but has an incredibly different climate. The main reason for this is Venus’s atmosphere, which is extremely different from Earth’s. Venus’s atmosphere is made up almost entirely of Carbon Dioxide, and has barely any Oxygen. Because of this, Venus has a much greater greenhouse effect than Earth, […] Continue reading →

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Planet IX

Posted on February 15, 2016 by lawlorsolarsystem

I have been fascinated by the possibility of a new ninth planet ever since I heard about it, so I thought I would use this blog to share some information on it. First, the discovery of it came, in many ways, from Pluto itself. Once astronomers discovered that there were other objects like Pluto (Kuiper […] Continue reading →

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Stonehenge

Posted on February 15, 2016 by lawlorsolarsystem

The layout of Stonehenge has confounded historians and archaeologists for years, and they still do not entirely know why it is there. But historians have theorized that at least part of the layout has to do with astronomy. One of the stones, called the Heel Stone, is lined up exactly with the Sun on the […] Continue reading →

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Isaac Newton in Context

Posted on February 3, 2016 by lawlorsolarsystem

Newton was important because he formulated the laws of gravity, which are crucial for understanding planetary motion. These explained orbits, the tides, and many other things about Astronomy. He also came up with his three laws of motion, which are extremely important in Physics. Source New Amsterdam was taken over by the British and renamed […] Continue reading →

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