Category Archives: Class

detecting exoplanets

Posted on March 15, 2020 by mcknia1

Extrasolar planets, aka exoplanets are planets that orbit stars other than our own. Astronomers employ several methods to detect these planets. One such method that fascinates me is the transit method, which is used by looking for a drop in brightness in a small world caused when they pass in front of their parent star.Continue reading “detecting exoplanets” Continue reading →

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Why We Opted for Mars, not Venus

Posted on March 15, 2020 by avighitterman

For years, the idea of colonizing another planet has fascinated the world (and with our climate crisis, become a very topical issue). After the moon, there are two obvious options, Mars and Venus. Obviously, we have directed our efforts towards Mars, but why not Venus? Venus is more comparable to the Earth in size andContinue reading “Why We Opted for Mars, not Venus” Continue reading →

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Grey Whale Migration

Posted on March 15, 2020 by clairesspacejam

Over this spring break, I came across an intriguing article in National Geographic that illustrated the closeness of space to life on Earth. The authors review a recently published study in the field of marine biology that suggests new insights into the way grey whales migrate. Grey whales have one of the furthest migrations ofContinue reading “Grey Whale Migration” Continue reading →

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Planetary Distances to the Sun

Posted on March 15, 2020 by seths1

Okay, hear me out – Mercury is the closest planet to every other planet in the Solar System, on average. When I read this it kind of blew my mind but after reading this article it makes a lot of sense. This is true because Mercury is on a very tight orbit around the sun.Continue reading “Planetary Distances to the Sun” Continue reading →

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Juno and Jupiter

Posted on March 15, 2020 by jackfumagalli

For my post this week, I decided to learn more about the Jovian planets, specifically Jupiter. Through my research, I discovered that Jupiter had a spacecraft sent by NASA to observe Jupiter named Juno.  Juno was launched in 2011 and reached Jupiter by 2016. It is a rotating, solar-powered spacecraft. Because of the images andContinue reading “Juno and Jupiter” Continue reading →

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Blog 4: Cosmology

Posted on March 14, 2020 by katelynmofield

Cosmology is the study of the origins and evolution of the Universe. Cosmos is actually just another word for universe. My favorite theory is the theory of the Multiverse (thank you Spiderman!) This theory states that we are just one bubble in an infinite series of bubbles, and that the differences between the Universes areContinue reading “Blog 4: Cosmology” Continue reading →

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Blog 3: Nuclear Fission

Posted on March 14, 2020 by katelynmofield

Nuclear Fission is a reaction (or radio decay process) in which the nuclear of an atom splits into two, smaller and lighter nuclei. This process produces gamma photons, and releases extremely large amounts of energy, which we then use to make our own usable energy. The release of the heat energy can be used toContinue reading “Blog 3: Nuclear Fission” Continue reading →

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Breaking “c” and the Warping of Space-time

Posted on March 14, 2020 by Phillip Yoon

The speed of light, often denoted by the constant “c,” is faster than anything that we know. Although there have been attempts to get certain particles to travel faster than the speed of light, like when scientists at the CERN laboratory in Switzerland tried to get a hold of neutrinos, no one has successfully brokenContinue reading “Breaking “c” and the Warping of Space-time” Continue reading →

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The Geology of Mars

Posted on March 12, 2020 by emily

There are four different processes that shape planetary surfaces; volcanism, tectonics, erosion, and impact catering. Impact catering is the creation of a bowl-shaped impact crater by asteroids or comets striking a planet’s surface. Volcanism is the eruption of molten rock, or lava from an interior onto its surface. Tectonics is the disruption of a planet’sContinue reading “The Geology of Mars” Continue reading →

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Mass of the Sun

Posted on March 12, 2020 by seths1

Source: space.com Learning about the planets in our last few classes (RIP senior year) reaffirmed for me that the earth is indeed very small compared to the other planets in the solar system. But then I read that 99.8% of the mass in the solar system is still contained within the sun! Even though theContinue reading “Mass of the Sun” Continue reading →

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