Author Archives: lorenzchen14

Culmination Post

Posted on May 1, 2021 by lorenzchen14

Milky Way Galaxy over Chile In the culminating post for this class, I just wanted to write about how my understanding of astronomy has changed. I have obviously gained a greater appreciation for our Solar System as a whole, and learning a little about the magnitudes and sizes of objects in space puts some thingsContinue reading “Culmination Post” Continue reading →

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Conan the Bacterium, a potential Martian?

Posted on April 30, 2021 by lorenzchen14

Conan the Bacterium, also known as Dionococcus Radiodurans Evolution, as far as we know, has always been pushing the limits of adaptability, allowing organisms to survive in the harshest of environments. Life that is extremely adaptable to almost all living environments are called extremophiles, hence their name. Scientists have recently hypothesized that some of Earth’sContinue reading “Conan the Bacterium, a potential Martian?” Continue reading →

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A home for future humans?

Posted on April 17, 2021 by lorenzchen14

Size Comparison of Kepler 62e and 62f with Earth With the rate at which we are destroying our planet, we are likely to need a new Earth sometime in the future. Luckily for us, there are two potentially habitable planets that were discovered in the Kepler 62 System, called Kepler 62e and Kepler 62f. TheseContinue reading “A home for future humans?” Continue reading →

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The Possibility of Life on Europa

Posted on April 17, 2021 by lorenzchen14

Europa, taken during NASA’s Galileo Mission Life as we know it needs three major ingredients, at least according to NASA. Life needs water, the correct chemical makeup, and an energy source. Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, could have all three ingredients and is a candidate for sustaining life elsewhere in the Solar System. In termsContinue reading “The Possibility of Life on Europa” Continue reading →

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Mars, Water trapped in Rocks

Posted on March 21, 2021 by lorenzchen14

An Artist’s Rendition of what Mars may have looked like 4 billion years ago As we have discussed in class, Mars looks very different today than it did billions of years ago. One notable difference is that Mars may have liquid water, as we see evidence of this in canyons and dried river beds inContinue reading “Mars, Water trapped in Rocks” Continue reading →

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The Secrets of Perseverance

Posted on March 20, 2021 by lorenzchen14

Solution to Perseverance’s parachute code, posted by Adam Steltzner When the Perseverance Rover landed on Feb.18, 2021, the parachute that was used appeared very unique, with a combination of orange and white strips. Coupled with the fact that in a conference, Allen Chen (the engineer in charge of the landing system) said, “we leave messagesContinue reading “The Secrets of Perseverance” Continue reading →

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Gravity of a Mysterious Object

Posted on February 27, 2021 by lorenzchen14

Credit: Caltech/R.Hurt (IPAC) We know that there are 8 planets in the Solar System. This is a fact. You would be crazy to think that there is a 9th planet out there orbiting beyond Pluto. After all, if there was a 9th planet, why haven’t we seen it yet? Well, meet Konstantin Batygin, a professorContinue reading “Gravity of a Mysterious Object” Continue reading →

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Posted on February 16, 2021 by lorenzchen14

Nicholas Copernicus: Born: February 19th, 1473 Death: May 24th, 1543 Copernicus was an influential figure for astronomy because of his work in promoting the heliocentric model that ultimately led to the Copernican Revolution. While Aristarchus first proposed a sun centered model, Copernicus’ work in De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium signified a change from a Ptolemaic modelContinue reading “Historical Astronomers in Context” Continue reading →

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Speed of Light Discussion

Posted on February 4, 2021 by lorenzchen14

Physics behind Solar Sails, by Robert Miller I actually find the speed of light and the implications behind this physical constraint pretty interesting. Particularly, if light takes time to travel, everything we see is technically in the past. As covered in the lecture, the sunlight that we see is 8 minutes old. But if weContinue reading “Speed of Light Discussion” Continue reading →

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Introductory Post

Posted on January 31, 2021 by lorenzchen14

Lorenz in China, by Me Hello Everyone, My name is Lorenz Chen, and I am a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. I am pursuing a psychology degree, but mostly just trying to graduate on time. Besides the occasional Veritasium video, I do not have much exposure to astronomy, so I hope IContinue reading “Introductory Post” Continue reading →

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