Category Archives: Class

A Moon Above the Rest: Jupiter’s Moon Ganymede

Posted on April 2, 2019 by reallyroyalqueen

Galileo Galilei discovered many “luminous objects” in 1610 that were orbiting Jupiter. Thought to be stars, it was discovered that they were moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. Ganymede is the largest moon in the Solar System and is even larger than the planet Mercury. It is the only satellite in the Solar System known to possess a … Continue reading A Moon Above the Rest: Jupiter’s Moon Ganymede → Continue reading →

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Why is Titan Special?

Posted on March 30, 2019 by Jiayu Kang

If you are a Sci-fi fan like me, you might be able to recall Vincent hiding his identity for the trip to Saturn’s moon Titan in Gattaca. In Star Trek 2009, Kirk and Spock beam abroad the Romulan ship attacking Earth, while Enterprise hid itself in Titan’s clouds. Or at least you should remember the … Continue reading Why is Titan Special? → Continue reading →

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Gravitational Lensing

Posted on March 13, 2019 by jacksonhubble2904

In Blog 2 I said I’d leave this subject for my next blog, so here it is on its own: what is gravitational lensing? As simply as I can explain it: Gravitational Lensing occurs when the mass of a large stellar group distorts light traveling from behind it towards the viewer. Because light is affected … Continue reading Gravitational Lensing → Continue reading →

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A Life in Orbit

Posted on March 13, 2019 by jacksonhubble2904

Existing near the vacuum of space poses unique instrumentation and life cycle challenges for the Hubble telescope. The sun’s radiation has the potential to corrupt electronic signals or damage components, so many parts must be shielded and redundant systems are required. Without atmospheric regulation, the temperature of an object in orbit such as the HST … Continue reading A Life in Orbit → Continue reading →

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Mars: Investigating the Red Planet

Posted on March 12, 2019 by Sam Bianco

In his hit song “Rocket Man”, musical legend Elton John aptly remarks that “Mars ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids / In fact it’s cold as hell.” The average surface temperature of Mars is 220 Kelvin, or about -64 degrees Fahrenheit. Now, I’m not sure about hell, but that’s definitely too cold … Continue reading Mars: Investigating the Red Planet → Continue reading →

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Oops, I accidentally welded!

Posted on March 12, 2019 by jiayu

Welding is the use of high heat to melt two metal pieces together so they fuse into one. It’s tricky and not a relaxing hobby done on… Read more “Oops, I accidentally welded!” Continue reading →

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Hypervelocity Stars

Posted on March 12, 2019 by jordyn27

In 2005, the first hypervelocity star (HVS) was discovered by Smithsonian astronomers. These objects are defined as stars with very high velocities compared to normal star velocities in a galaxy. Some of them have velocities that exceed the escape velocity of the galaxy. They are thought to originate from encounters of binary stars with the … Continue reading Hypervelocity Stars → Continue reading →

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A Brief, Incomplete History of “Earth”

Posted on March 12, 2019 by IanO12

When looking at our solar system, it is pretty easy to notice one thing that separates Earth from the other planets with which we share a star. Namely, Earth is the only planet not named after a Roman deity. You have Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, and even Pluto! So where does “Earth” […] Continue reading →

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Saving the Appearances

Posted on March 12, 2019 by reallyroyalqueen

Strict Aristotelian cosmology follows that all bodies are made of the four elements: earth, water, air, and fire. These four exist in the terrestrial realm and the stars exist in the celestial realm. A fifth element, aether, exists there and that is what heavenly bodies are composed of. Aristotle provided the basics of the physics … Continue reading Saving the Appearances → Continue reading →

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Climate Change

Posted on March 12, 2019 by bobbyc

Climate change is predominantly caused by the greenhouse effect, which is when gases in our atmosphere prevent heat from the sun from escaping the Earth. As greenhouse gasses continue to be added to our atmosphere (primarily by burning fossil fuels), the greenhouse effect becomes more severe, allowing less and less heat to escape from our … Continue reading Climate Change Continue reading →

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