Author Archives: Elizabeth Merriman

Earth like Planets

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Elizabeth Merriman

It is interesting to think about the existence of extrasolar planets. Now that we are starting to find a lot of giants, the new thing is finding Earth like planets. Recently, Kepler has found three Earth-like planets. I am anxious … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Greenhouse Gases

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Elizabeth Merriman

As noted in the textbook, the Earth is hotter than it would be without it’s atmosphere.  According to the EES 201 notes, just based on incoming solar radiation and 30% reflected back to space, the Earth is 255 K.   … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Mars Suitable for Life

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Elizabeth Merriman

I know everyone is blogging about this, but how exciting is it that Mars was once suitable for life?!?  Of course, Mars will soon be on the other side of the Sun, so NASA will not be able to test … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Pink Light

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Elizabeth Merriman

There are many interesting things about light, particularly those wavelengths we cannot see.  Looking at the light coming off of the Earth, we see what looks like a black body curve, but with chunks missing where greenhouse gasses absorb light.   … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Gravity around the Solar System

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Elizabeth Merriman

In class, we looked at why an astronaut experiences weightlessness in the space station, even though the force of gravity is not significantly less than on the surface of the Earth.  This is because the space station is falling at the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Kepler and the elliptical orbits

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Elizabeth Merriman

Johannes Kepler produced remarkably accurate results from the movement of the planets.  After concluding that the planets move in elliptical orbits and that the planets sweep out equal area in equal time, he calculated the distance of the planets from … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Milankovitch Cycles and Ice Ages

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Elizabeth Merriman

We have learned about how the tilt of the Earth’s axis affects the change of seasons.  However, over a 40,000 year cycle, the intensity of seasons and ice ages are affected by the Milankovitch Cycles.  This link provides a simple … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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The speed of light in everyday terms

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Elizabeth Merriman

The idea of light years is pretty mind blowing.  Click on the above picture to watch a cool video explaining how we measure distance with time in everyday life.  The difference between saying I live 10 hours from Nashville and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Intro for ASTR201

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Elizabeth Merriman

Hey, I am a senior math major and earth and environmental science minor.  I spend most of my free time on horseback, but am also working as a grader and other math-y things on campus. by my friend Liz   Continue reading →

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