Author Archives: rtjobe

The Final Frontier

Posted on April 29, 2013 by rtjobe

We live quite cozily on our happy little planet we call Earth. Our own solar system has 8 planets including Earth, and 613,152 confirmed minor planets. Our best estimates say that the Milky Way galaxy has anywhere from 100 to 400 billion other stars in it, most of which have planets around them. To put […] Continue reading →

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The Meaning of the Drake Equation

Posted on April 29, 2013 by rtjobe

The Drake equation was originally created by (and is named after) astronomer Frank Drake. Given the values of a number of variables, his equation may be used to estimate the number of species in the galaxy capable of interstellar communication. Drake’s proposed equation is as follows: N = R * fp * ne * fl […] Continue reading →

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The K-Pg Event, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Exterminate the Dinosaurs

Posted on April 10, 2013 by rtjobe

Also known as the K-T Event, its name is derived from the German words for Cretaceous and Paleogene. It has been a long-held belief by scientists that it was an impact by a large comet or asteroid that killed off the dinosaurs. Fossil records indicate that 66 million years ago, almost 75% of life on […] Continue reading →

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The Galilean Moons

Posted on April 10, 2013 by rtjobe

The Galilean moons of Jupiter are in order of distance Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. They are the four largest and most prominent of the 67 moons orbiting Jupiter, these four moons are some of the largest moons in the solar system–Callisto and Ganymede are even larger than Mercury, while Io and Europa are smaller […] Continue reading →

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The Carrington Event

Posted on March 20, 2013 by rtjobe

Imagine that it’s 1am and you’re lying in your bed, when suddenly it begins to get lighter out–as if the sun is already rising. Birds are chirping, men are waking up confused, and aurorae can be seen in skies across the entire world. This phenomenon is what people around the world experienced on the morning […] Continue reading →

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Nuclear Fusion and the Stars

Posted on March 19, 2013 by rtjobe

Nuclear fusion, the process by which two atoms collide to form a single larger atom, has been fueling stars since the beginning of star formation. At most distances apart, two protons will naturally repel each other due to the fact that both are positive charges, and the Electromagnetic force between them pushes them apart; however, […] Continue reading →

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Dark Matter and the Missing Mass Problem

Posted on February 19, 2013 by rtjobe

We have a huge problem. Like a we-seem-to-be-missing-95%-of-the-universe kind of problem.  If you look at the way that galaxies are constructed you will notice that they are very bright in the center and tend to get dimmer as you travel outward, indicating there must be more mass in the center than the outside.  This would […] Continue reading →

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Archeoastronomy and Stonehenge

Posted on February 19, 2013 by rtjobe

Archeoastronomy is not as the name at first implies a study of ancient astronomy, but rather the study of how astronomy affected early civilizations. In a sense, it is a combination of astronomy, anthropology, and history with respect to ancient cultures. Archeoastronomers look at a variety of types of evidence in their efforts to determine […] Continue reading →

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Historical Astronomers in Context – Johannes Kepler

Posted on February 6, 2013 by rtjobe

Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) was a 17th century astronomer born in the city of Weil der Stadt in the Holy Roman Empire, in what is today Germany. He is best known for his discovery of the elliptical orbits of planets and his planetary laws of motion. These three laws explained that the planets orbited the sun […] Continue reading →

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Mysterious as the Dark Side of the Moon

Posted on January 27, 2013 by rtjobe

If you’ve ever watched the Disney movie Mulan, then you’ve heard the phrase “mysterious as the dark side of the moon.” This is a pretty common–although somewhat incorrect–phrase to say that something is unknown, much like the side of the moon that we can’t see. The moon is in synchronous orbit with the Earth, meaning […] Continue reading →

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