Author Archives: mcknia1

the Gliese 581c

Posted on March 27, 2020 by mcknia1

Upon learning about exoplanets, I’ve become fascinated with one 20 years light years away from Earth called the Gliese 581c, which resides in the Gliese 581 system. The Gliese 581c was discovered in 2007 using the radial velocity method of detection (tugs on its planet star). At the time of its discovery, it was theContinue reading “the Gliese 581c” Continue reading →

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detecting exoplanets

Posted on March 15, 2020 by mcknia1

Extrasolar planets, aka exoplanets are planets that orbit stars other than our own. Astronomers employ several methods to detect these planets. One such method that fascinates me is the transit method, which is used by looking for a drop in brightness in a small world caused when they pass in front of their parent star.Continue reading “detecting exoplanets” Continue reading →

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climate change and the coronavirus

Posted on March 10, 2020 by mcknia1

With the COVID-19 outbreak, a virus that has infected over 90,000 people worldwide, I’ve started to wonder how this may impact our wellbeing on an environmental level. Global warming, a phenomena caused by human activity, such as the releasing of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere poses many consequences for Earth’s inhabitants.Continue reading “climate change and the coronavirus” Continue reading →

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scattering: light and sunsets/sunrises

Posted on February 10, 2020 by mcknia1

This morning I woke up to a beautiful sunrise (pictured) and got to pondering how the colors came to be. Apparently, they result from a process called scattering, a process by which small particles in the the atmosphere change the direction of light rays, causing them to scatter. Although scattering affects the color of lightContinue reading “scattering: light and sunsets/sunrises” Continue reading →

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Infinite Possibilities

Posted on January 20, 2020 by mcknia1

Upon reading this chapter, I was sort of disturbed by the reality of how infinite the universe is and how minuscule we are as humans (in the grand scheme of things). The Cosmic Calendar, a scale of the universe over the course of one year, reveals that humans would have appeared within the last fewContinue reading “Infinite Possibilities” Continue reading →

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