Category Archives: Class

Light

The topic of light in regards to astronomy or any study of space is incredibly fascinating. In a vacuum, the speed of light travels around 300,000 km/sec and is known to be the fastest phenomenon in the entire universe. There’s so many interesting aspects that come out of studying light. One such example would be […] Continue reading

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The Speed of Gravity

If the Sun were to disappear, how long would it take for us to notice? This question usually brings about an answer of ‘8 minutes’, or about the time that it takes light from the Sun to reach Earth. However, Earth is orbiting the Sun, and if it were to instantaneously disappear, would Earth still […] Continue reading

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Blog 2: Tidal Changes

Water tides are a very interesting topic, yet most people think very shallow about them. Previously, all I knew or cared about tides was whether it was safe to go in the water. After a little research, I learned how important they are in terms of climate change. Humans recently have been dramatically altering the […] Continue reading

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The Hubble Telescope and Spectroscopy

When many people think about the Hubble Telescope, they tend to think of some of the most spectacular photos that it has captured over its five missions (with an example displayed in Figure 2). However, some people may fail to recognize the importance of the spectrographs that the Hubble Telescope produced and the valuable information […] Continue reading

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Blog #2: Archeoastronomy

Reflecting on how science and astronomy have grown and blossomed into what we study today really illustrates how amazing ancient feats of astronomy and observation were. The impacts of ancient observations of the night sky still effect us today, including in the name of months, the days of the week, and the length of our days and years. Continue reading

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Blog#2 Gravity

Ancient Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle deduced that moving heaven bodies makes circular motion because a circle is the perfect heaven path. Later scientists such as Tycho claimed that heavenly bodies are pushed by angels. Nobody previous to Isaac Newton was aware of the concept “Gravity.” Perhaps the most famous legend about gravity […] Continue reading

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The First Space Telescope

Telescopes have come a long way since they were invented in 1608. Not only have ground based telescopes made significant advances, but in recent decades telescopes have even been launched into space to mitigate the effects of Earth’s atmosphere on obse… Continue reading

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Retrograde Motion

It is often easy to look back at historical astronomical theories and think that they were silly or nonsensical. Of course, hindsight is 20/20, and with what ancient astronomers knew at the time, it makes sense that they created bizarre models of the universe. Retrograde motion is a phenomenon that gave scientists a lot ofContinue reading “Retrograde Motion” Continue reading

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The James Webb Space Telescope

As you may have heard in the news recently, the James Webb Space Telescope (or JWST) was launched into space on December 25, 2021. The JWST is meant to be the successor to the Hubble Telescope, as it detects light further into the infrared spectrum than the Hubble telescope, and so can see stars that […] Continue reading

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The Nature and Beginnings of Science

Ever since the development of the rational brain, human beings have tried to understand the world around them. For the first few millennium, we went about understand the world around us through story and narration. Whether or not you consider yourself religious, it is evident that prominent religious works, such as the Bible of Christianity,Continue reading “The Nature and Beginnings of Science” Continue reading

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