Author Archives: Nicholas Fleisher

Blog 8: 51 Pegasi

Posted on April 22, 2024 by Nicholas Fleisher

In this blog post, I’m going to be discussing more of what we learned from Unit 4, specifically about the Doppler method. As we all now know, the Doppler method is a critical tool for detecting extrasolar planets. It searches for a star’s orbital movement around a center of mass by looking for changing Doppler […] Continue reading →

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Blog 7: Thermophiles!

Posted on April 21, 2024 by Nicholas Fleisher

In this blog, I’m going to be discussing all things thermophiles! Thermophiles are organisms that are found in really hot temperatures (60 degrees Celsius – 140 degrees Celsius). Found these organisms aren’t simply found there… they thrive there! Thermophiles typically inhabit a variety of extreme ecological sites, usually hot springs like in Yellowstone National Park […] Continue reading →

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Blog 6: Io!

Posted on April 5, 2024 by Nicholas Fleisher

In this blog post, I’d like to talk about the BEST Galilean moon: Io. As I’m sure we all know, Io is known as the volcanic world of Jupiter’s moons. It holds large numbers of volcanoes, and frequent eruptions that repave the surface. In fact, its surface is relatively young with no impact craters. As […] Continue reading →

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Blog 5: Jovian Magnetospheres

Posted on April 5, 2024 by Nicholas Fleisher

For this blog post, I’m going to be talking about the relative magnetospheres of the Jovian planets. As we have learned with terrestrials, magnetic fields are generated by motions of charged particles deep in their planet’s interiors. These magnetic fields create magnetospheres, which are like huge bubble that surround the whole planet and shield it […] Continue reading →

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Blog 4: All Things Venus!

Posted on March 4, 2024 by Nicholas Fleisher

Venus is the second planet from the sun, as well as the second of the Terrestrial planets, meaning it is high density, low radius, and low radius compared to the Jovian planets. Some quick facts about Venus include the following: As described above, Venus’s atmosphere is incredibly thick, which makes circulation efficient in transporting heat […] Continue reading →

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Blog 3: Nuclear Fusion

Posted on March 3, 2024 by Nicholas Fleisher

The sun is the greatest, most massive, hottest thing in our world. But how does it even work?? I’m gonna be totally honest, I’m not a big science guy so I’ve never really had the change to answer this question. But Chapter 14 gives us an in depth explanation of how the sun functions through […] Continue reading →

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Blog Post 2: How Tides Work

Posted on February 11, 2024 by Nicholas Fleisher

Chapter 4 of the textbook provided a detailed analysis of how tides are the result of the gravitational attraction between the earth and moon. In my blog post, I’d like to demonstrate my knowledge of the subject matter in preparation for the upcoming test in order to solidify my understanding of the matter. As stated, […] Continue reading →

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Posted on February 2, 2024 by Nicholas Fleisher

Nicolaus Copernicus  —  Born February 19, 1473 | Died May 24, 1543 Copernicus was important to astronomy because he proposed the heliocentric system that explained how planets orbit around the Sun. His central idea was that Earth, in addition to orbiting the sun every year, rotates once daily on its own axis. The slow changes […] Continue reading →

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Blog 1

Posted on January 20, 2024 by Nicholas Fleisher

As someone who knew very little about anything astronomy related prior to this course, I was enamored by the first two chapters of the textbook. There were a few topics in particular that I had always been curious about but never got the chance to learn about, one of which being how seasons work. I […] Continue reading →

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Introductory Post: Blood Moon

Posted on January 15, 2024 by Nicholas Fleisher

This photo of a blood moon was taken by my friend, Aidan, while we along with all of our friends were in Lake Nebagamon, WI this summer. We grew up going to camp together in Wisconsin, and it was really cool to hang out all summer there with them. Seeing this blood moon was one […] Continue reading →

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