Category Archives: Class

Culmination Blog

Posted on April 30, 2024 by The Cosmic Traveler

This will be my final blog for this course. I just want to say that I learned so much, and I am grateful for what I learned. My eyes have been opened up, and I learned so much information that I never knew. My favorite part of this course was the actual observing of celestial […] Continue reading →

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Immortal Water Bears?

Posted on April 30, 2024 by The Cosmic Traveler

by Science News So what is a water bear and how is it immortal? Water bears, also known as Tardigrades, are eight-legged micro animals that can survive extreme conditions. Their size is typically 0.05mm-1.2mm. Water bears can survive in space, radioactive environments, near volcanoes, and even at the bottom of the ocean. Animals that can […] Continue reading →

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We are Lucky

Posted on April 29, 2024 by John Newell

We should be grateful for our place in exploration. Sometimes I get sad, and mope around upset that I was born at the wrong time. The phrase goes something like “born too late to explore the Earth, too early to explore the stars.” And it is so easy to get caught up in it. But […] Continue reading →

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Light Has Momentum?

Posted on April 29, 2024 by John Newell

How is that possible – And how can we take advantage? We know that light has no mass. And, according to classical mechanics, momentum is given by 1/2mv^2; in other words, according to classical mechanics, light cannot have momentum. But, as we know, light is different — and oh so interesting! By virtue of energy […] Continue reading →

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Our Neighbor?: The Andromeda Galaxy

Posted on April 29, 2024 by Garrett

Image of the Andromeda Galaxy 1888 For this blog I wanted to talk about The Andromeda Galaxy. Other than it being the closest galaxy to our Milky Way I really didn’t know much about it. The Andromeda galaxy was first photographed in 1888 by Issac Roberts (picture above). Andromeda is located over 2 million light-years […] Continue reading →

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Are We Living in a Black Hole???

Posted on April 29, 2024 by Justin Kim

While this question seems ridiculous, we shouldn’t dismiss the theory outright. Maybe there are lessons to be extracted out of this thought experiment. Or maybe our universe truly exists within a black hole. The theory is called Schwarzschild cosmology which posits that our universe lies within the black hold of a larger parent universe. The […] Continue reading →

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Blog 8: Culmination of the Course

Posted on April 29, 2024 by Seth Creech

Picture: Potentially viable planets visualization ASTRO 2110 was my fourth astronomy class that I have taken here at Vanderbilt, and it was also one of my favorites. Astronomy is seen by many as interesting but irrelevant, so it was nice getting a deeper understanding of the most relevant parts of the universe to us by […] Continue reading →

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Space Weather

Posted on April 29, 2024 by Ayden Harris

Space weather is an interesting topic that has not been discussed much. We know that the temperature in space is ~3 degrees Kelvin, however, we don’t consider space weather to be important because it is hard for us to visualize weather in space. Space weather is primarily affected by the interplanetary magnetic fields carried by […] Continue reading →

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Goldilocks Planet

Posted on April 29, 2024 by Ayden Harris

Looking for another habitable planet outside of Earth has drawn the attention of scientists for years. Initially scientists believed that as long as a planet orbits a star in a habitable zone that the could be a potential planet for humans to colonize on. However, over the years that list has gotten more extensive. So, […] Continue reading →

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Strain 121: Surviving Beyond Boiling

Posted on April 29, 2024 by Garrett

Image of Strain 121 For my blog post I wanted to learn more about extremophiles. One extremophile I found particularly interesting was Strain 121. This single-celled organism is considered a hyperthermophile. Strain 121 can survive and reproduce at temperatures as high as 121 degrees Celsius (250 degrees Fahrenheit), which is where it gets its name. […] Continue reading →

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