Author Archives: olivesobservatory

Keeping Up With The Kardashev Scale

Posted on May 2, 2021 by olivesobservatory

Feel free to take a few seconds out of your day to fully appreciate the genius title I came up with for this post. I’ll even give you some scrolling to do while you appreciate it! The Kardashev scale was designed in 1964 by Nikolai Kardashev to measure a civilization’s level of technological capability based… Continue reading →

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I Want To Believe!

Posted on May 1, 2021 by olivesobservatory

Forget Fermi’s paradox. Forget the Drake equation. Yet another hot-button topic relating to astronomy and (potential?) extraterrestrial life is- you guessed it- unidentified flying objects (UFOs for short). Do I think it’s kind of a stretch that I’m relating this to chapter 24? Absolutely! But with the (relatively) recent declassification by the Pentagon of three… Continue reading →

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Going Up?

Posted on April 14, 2021 by olivesobservatory

Space. Elevators. I know what you’re thinking- huh? What even are those? Those were my exact thoughts before I learned all about the concept of space elevators 10 minutes ago, and I’m going to share everything I learned with you. Rockets have been our only mode of transportation to space for quite a while, but… Continue reading →

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Calling All Nerds! (Just Kidding, LOTR is Cool)

Posted on April 14, 2021 by olivesobservatory

This image may look familiar to all you high fantasy fans out there as the Eye of Sauron from Lord of the Rings, but what if I told you that you didn’t have to travel to Middle-earth to see it? I know you’re all on the edge of your seats now! This is an image… Continue reading →

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Moon Rock Mischief!

Posted on March 16, 2021 by olivesobservatory

Apparently theft isn’t exclusive to Earth! In 2002, college NASA interns Thad Roberts, Tiffany Fowler, and Shae Saur stole more than $20 million worth of moon rocks from the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. How did they pull it off, exactly? An elaborate heist that eventually ended in an FBI sting operation. In May… Continue reading →

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What if the Carrington Event Occurred Today?

Posted on March 16, 2021 by olivesobservatory

Are we ready for a Carrington-level event today? The short answer- not really. In 1859, Richard Carrington observed “two patches of intensely bright and white light” (a solar flare followed by a coronal mass ejection) on the surface of the Sun. The next morning, brilliant red, green, and purple auroral displays appeared as far as… Continue reading →

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Galileo Galilei: More Than a Fun Name to Say

Posted on February 14, 2021 by olivesobservatory

Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa, Italy, on February 15, 1564 (his birthday is tomorrow!) and died on January 8, 1642 (Wikipedia Contributors, 2021). Galileo was instrumental to the field of astronomy (and arguably one of the most iconic astronomers), with one of his most prominent contributions being the solidification of the Copernican view. Galileo… Continue reading →

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Astronomy & the Catholic Church

Posted on February 12, 2021 by olivesobservatory

Although some might make the claim that the Catholic Church has and always will be anti-science (a myth perpetuated partly by Catholic fundamentalism), the church has actually had a longstanding relationship with the sciences dating as far back as the early Middle Ages. [1] The beginning of the church’s interest in astronomy began when issues… Continue reading →

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The Zodiac & Precession

Posted on February 4, 2021 by olivesobservatory

Do you know your sun sign? Well, even if you do, it’s probably wrong! Let me provide some background. The zodiac is a term for the 12 constellations found along the Sun’s ecliptic (a circle that represents the Sun’s apparent path through the constellations throughout the year), while your sun sign indicates what constellation the… Continue reading →

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Introduction

Posted on January 31, 2021 by olivesobservatory

Hello everyone! My name is Olivia and I’m a first-year planning on majoring in Political Science with a potential minor in Sociology. I’ve always loved space and I am super excited to deepen my understanding of astronomy in this class! Here is a link to one of my favorite Star Wars characters, Shaak Ti. Continue reading →

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