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Author Archives: olivesobservatory
Keeping Up With The Kardashev Scale
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
I Want To Believe!
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
Posted in Aliens, Class, Historical, Space Travel
Tagged astro2110, blog7, extraterrestrials, UFOs
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Going Up?
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
Posted in Class, Science, Space Travel
Tagged blog6, Satellites, spacetravel, technology
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Calling All Nerds! (Just Kidding, LOTR is Cool)
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
Posted in Class, Exoplanets, Instruments, Stars
Tagged blog5, exoplanet
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Moon Rock Mischief!
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
What if the Carrington Event Occurred Today?
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
Posted in Class, Historical, Sun
Tagged astro2110, blog3, technology
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Galileo Galilei: More Than a Fun Name to Say
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
Posted in Historical
Tagged astro2110, galilei
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Astronomy & the Catholic Church
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
The Zodiac & Precession
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
Posted in Class, Historical, Stars
Tagged astro2110, blog1, precession, Zodiac
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Introduction
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