Author Archives: Lindsey

Where Are the Aliens?

Posted on April 28, 2022 by Lindsey

Based on various calculations and estimations made by scientists all over the world, there is a very high probability that aliens (i.e. life elsewhere in the universe) exist. However, we have never encountered any tangible or irrefutable evidence of aliens. This contradiction is called the Fermi Paradox. One possible explanation for this paradox is that […] Continue reading →

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Extremophiles

Posted on April 28, 2022 by Lindsey

The word extremophile comes from the Latin words extremus (meaning extreme) and philia (meaning love). An extremophile is an organism with the ability to survive, or even thrive, in an environment that we as humans would consider extreme. These organisms are some of the oldest species to exist on Earth. Some of them date back […] Continue reading →

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The Oort Cloud

Posted on April 11, 2022 by Lindsey

The Oort cloud is located in the most distant part of our solar system. It is so far away that it is thought to be multiples times farther from the Sun than the outermost parts of the Kuiper Belt. One thing that makes the Oort Cloud unique is that the objects within it do not […] Continue reading →

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Pluto: from planet to dwarf planet

Posted on April 11, 2022 by Lindsey

Pluto is one of the six dwarf planets that we have currently identified in our solar system, and it was the first object discovered in the Kuiper belt. It was discovered in 1930 and was initially declared to be the ninth planet. However, when other objects were discovered in the Kuiper belt (like the dwarf […] Continue reading →

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The Andromeda Galaxy

Posted on March 16, 2022 by Lindsey

The Andromeda Galaxy is one of the only galaxies visible without the aid of a telescope on Earth. It is a spiral galaxy, and it got its name because it is located in the constellation Andromeda. It is approximately 2,480,000 light years from Earth and has a diameter of approximately 200,000 light years. The first […] Continue reading →

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The Apollo Missions: Fun Facts

Posted on March 16, 2022 by Lindsey

Almost everyone has heard about the apollo missions to space and the valuable information obtained about our solar system. Here are some interesting facts about the apollo program: One crazy statistic is that the Saturn V launch vehicle was taller than the Statue of Liberty. This rocket was a huge engineering feat, reaching 316 feet […] Continue reading →

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Archeoastronomy: the Ancient Greeks

Posted on February 16, 2022 by Lindsey

The quest for knowledge about the universe we live in is not a modern phenomenon. Many cultures throughout history have devoted a significant amount of time and resources in pursuit of this knowledge. One ancient civilization that dramatically improved our knowledge of astronomy was the ancient Greeks. One of the main goals of Greek astronomers […] Continue reading →

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Posted on February 6, 2022 by Lindsey

Nicholas Copernicus was incredibly important to astronomy because he first proposed a model of the universe in which the Sun was at the center and that Earth orbited it (heliocentric model). This was incredibly controversial during his time because most people believed the Earth was at the center of the universe and everything else orbited […] Continue reading →

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The Blood Moon: Cultural Significance

Posted on January 27, 2022 by Lindsey

The phenomena that is called a “blood moon” occurs during a lunar eclipse, when the Earth blocks the path of sunlight heading towards the moon. This causes the Earth to cast its shadow over the moon. However, the reddish tint that appears during a blood moon occurs because of refracted sunlight by Earth’s atmosphere. Throughout […] Continue reading →

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Introduction

Posted on January 23, 2022 by Lindsey

Hi! My name is Lindsey and I am a sophomore at Vanderbilt University. I am from Jacksonville, Florida and I love football, particularly the San Francisco 49ers. Continue reading →

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