Author Archives: timmyshaheen

How the Creators of “Interstellar” Came up with what a Black Hole Should Look Like

Posted on April 29, 2022 by timmyshaheen

As Christopher Nolan was creating “Interstellar,” he wanted to make sure that the film was as scientifically accurate as possible, so he hired a theoretical physicist named Kip Thorne to help. The largest contribution that he had to the creation of the film was his help rendering the stunning black hole. It was Thorne that […] Continue reading →

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Answer to the Fermi Paradox: They Just Don’t Need Us

Posted on April 29, 2022 by timmyshaheen

The Fermi paradox states that due to the relatively high chance of intelligent life existing somewhere else in the universe, they should have visited us by now, except they have not yet. So why? There are currently some explanations ranging from intelligent life just not existing to them not deeming us worthy of participating in […] Continue reading →

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What Would a City Look Like Inside of Olympus Mons?

Posted on April 15, 2022 by timmyshaheen

In Avatar: The Last Airbender, the capital of the fire nation is a city built inside the crater, or caldera, of a volcano. The idea of this got me thinking, what would a city look like inside of the largest volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons? The picture shows Olympus Mons compared to Arizona. […] Continue reading →

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Is There a Planet Nine?

Posted on April 15, 2022 by timmyshaheen

For centuries, humans have been observing the stars and the planets searching to understand more about the sky. As our technology becomes more sophisticated, so do the problems that we try and solve. Currently, there is a cluster of extreme trans-Neptunian objects with unexplained phenomena in their orbits. These objects all complete the closest part […] Continue reading →

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The Martian: Based in Science or Fiction?

Posted on March 21, 2022 by timmyshaheen

The Martian originated as a book written by Andy Weir, then was adapted into a movie which was directed by Ridley Scott. The book and the movie prided themselves on being scientifically accurate. In fact, when Andy Weir was first writing the book, he published chapters on his blog, and adjusted them based on the […] Continue reading →

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Persevering through the trials of landing on Mars

Posted on March 21, 2022 by timmyshaheen

Space rovers can cost a space program billions of dollars to make; in fact, Perseverance cost NASA 2.7 billion dollars. (Planetary) With that much money, time, and effort being put into a project, it makes sense that those behind it, wish to actually see their hard work successfully operate. For this to happen, the rover […] Continue reading →

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Solar Architecture and History

Posted on February 20, 2022 by timmyshaheen

In the television show Avatar: The Last Airbender, the main character is able to commune with one of his past lives on the Winter Solstice. This happens when the sun shines through the wall and directly hits a statue of the past life that he is trying to talk to. The catch in the show […] Continue reading →

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Posted on February 10, 2022 by timmyshaheen

Galileo Galilei was important to astronomy because he disproved the Aristotelian theory about the immutability of the heavens. Additionally, he managed to invent a telescope with a magnification of 30 times. Additionally, he was able to observe the moon in great detail and even make estimated topographic maps of its surface. He also was able […] Continue reading →

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Galactic Time Travel

Posted on January 29, 2022 by timmyshaheen

In the picture above, Leia looks towards the night sky and the lights of the stars from her Galaxy. She remarks how the light from the destruction of her planet has yet to reach them yet, and she imagines that she could just get into a spaceship and go see her planet alive and well. […] Continue reading →

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About me

Posted on January 25, 2022 by timmyshaheen

This is the main hangar of the National Air and Space Museum. I used to love coming here as a kid, and it is one of the reasons that I become fascinated with outer space. Continue reading →

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