Category Archives: Class

Understanding Retrograde Motion

Posted on September 23, 2024 by Elias Ibrahim

the planets as seen from Earth Retrograde motion is when a planet appears to move backward in its orbit relative to the rest of the night sky. Planets such as Mars and Jupiter can be seen in retrograde motion. Retrograde motion occurs due to the movements and relative positions of other planets around the sun. […] Continue reading →

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Gravity & General Relativity

Posted on September 23, 2024 by Henry Wang

You throw something up in the air and it falls down. Why? Gravity, obviously, everyone knows that. But what really is gravity? By most common knowledge, gravity is one of the four fundamental forces, and has a lot more to it than just making things fall. Gravity actually works as an attraction between two masses, […] Continue reading →

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Blog 02 – History of Astronomy

Posted on September 19, 2024 by Mercedes

Ancient Mesopotamia is the earliest known source of modern astronomical research. Babylonian MUL.APIN texts provide data on stars’ locations and celestial descriptions dated to 1200 BCE. The group used their fingers and 360 units (comparable to modern 360 degrees) to chart the sky, distances, and celestial movement and occurrences. They used their star passages to […] Continue reading →

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Posted on September 18, 2024 by Justinc

A portrait of Galileo Galilei

Importance to Astronomy – Galileo Galilei

Galileo Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) contributed many findings related to astronomy, a few include: He took a spyglass and improved upon it so that… Continue reading →

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Posted on September 17, 2024 by Michael

Tycho Brahe: 12/14/1546 – 10/14/1601 Brahe has been described as the greatest astronomer before the invention of the telescope. He was devoted towards building new measurement instruments with unprecedented levels of accuracy, which were necessary for his discoveries. A few of his most notable observations include the annual variation in the orbital speed of the […] Continue reading →

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Historical Figures in Context

Posted on September 17, 2024 by Elias Ibrahim

The dates of birth and death for major astronomical figures. Nicolaus Copernicus/Born: February 19, 1473. Died: May 24, 1543 Galileo Galilei/Born: February 15, 1564 Died: January 8, 1642 Johannes Kepler/Born: December 27, 1571. Died: November 15, 1630 Isaac Newton/Born: January 4, 1643. Died: March 31, 1727 Tycho Brahe/Born: December 14, 1546 Died: October 24, 1601 […] Continue reading →

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Sextants in Celestial Navigation

Posted on September 16, 2024 by Leo Silva

Blog #2 – Leo Celestial navigation– also known as “astronavigation”– is a practice of nearly 4,000 years (HistoryHit, How Celestial Navigation Changed Maritime History) where an individual can determine their location in space or the Earth’s surface using the positions of other celestial bodies such as the Sun, Moon, other planets, and stars. Throughout history, […] Continue reading →

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Why The Moon Look Different Throughout the Year

Posted on September 15, 2024 by Ninh Duong

HYPERLINK SOURCES; https://starinastar.com/moon-phases-names-an-easy-way-to-remember/, https://blogs.jccc.edu/astronomy/lab-manual/experiment-two-lunar-phases/ Have you ever noticed that the moon seems different now than it did a week ago when you looked up at it? The moon moves through several phases throughout the year, and this blog will help you understand why it appears differently at each stage of the cycle. Why there’s different […] Continue reading →

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HW3- Historical Figures in Context

Posted on September 13, 2024 by Mercedes

Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) Tycho Brahe was important in the history of astronomy. He created many new astronomical instruments and accurately calibrated them. Tycho was one of the first to correct for “atmospheric refraction.” In addition to this, he and his assistants discovered several anomalies that would lead to the future astronomical developments and models. Photo […] Continue reading →

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Historical Astronomers in Context -Leo

Posted on September 9, 2024 by Leo Silva

Johannes KeplerAccess more information about him here:1) New Mexico Space Museum2) American Museum of Natural History The Thirty Years WarAccess more information about the Thirty Years War here:1) History.com Publication of Shakespeare’s WorksAccess more information about the publication of Shakespeare’s works here:1) Royal Shakespeare Company René DescartesAccess more infromation about René Descartes here:1) Internet Encyclopedia […] Continue reading →

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