Category Archives: General

The Zodiac and Ascribing Meaning to a Random Existence

Britannica The twelve Zodiac signs are the most famous (and infamous, if you talk to scientists) way of imposing order and grouping onto our lives. Personality tests, Harry Potter houses (which have to be the laziest version out there), “What sandwich am I?” quizzes, these all apply a person’s traits and responses to fundamental questions […] Continue reading

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For my 2024 class…

If you’re in my 2024 Solar System class, please put a comment here showing that you’ve found my blog and that you’re following it :)  Please include your first name.  Note that you MUST be logged in to your own WordPress blog when commenting or else you’re doing it wrong! Also make sure you have bookmarked […] Continue reading

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Stars of Revelation

Throughout the Bible, celestial bodies are mentioned. Jesus is “The Morning Star.” Abraham would have as many offspring as stars in the sky. Another example many people are familiar is the Book of Revelation in the Bible. It was also mentioned in my discussion of the tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe. In Chapter 12, […] Continue reading

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Blog #7 Extremophiles

Photo of an extremophile water bear captured using an electron microscope. Extremophiles are creatures which are capable of living in extreme environments beyond what one might imagine are the limits of life. Extremophiles have attracted attention from the scientific community because of their potential to exist in the most extreme environments in outer space. One […] Continue reading

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Seager Equation

So the Seager Equation was made to mimic Drake’s Equation. It doesn’t find communicable aliens, but rather just that life which is detectable from Earth. It also doesn’t specify intelligent life, so it searches for any discernible life at all, from microbes to megafauna. The equation goes like this: N* : Number of observable stars […] Continue reading

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Until Next Time!

(Tatooine’s “Twin Suns“) I have always thought that astronomy and everything to do with Earth and outer space were so freaking cool (and terrifying), but it wasn’t until this year (taking both ASTR 1010 and 2110) that I got to really dive into the area of study. It’s a lot harder for me than some […] Continue reading

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Astrobiology & The Search For Life

Astrobiology is the study of life that occurs somewhere other than Earth, as we’ve learned in class, and this blog post emphasizes its developments and possible future directions. There have been substantial scientific, technological, and programmatic advances achieved in the hunt for extraterrestrial life since the 2015 publication of NASA’s Astrobiology Strategy. Understanding the beginnings […] Continue reading

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How Extremophiles Work

As we talked about in class a few weeks ago, Extremophiles are living things that flourish under challenging conditions.They are amazing because they can endure situations that would be fatal to the majority of other life forms. They originate from Archaea, Eubacteria, and Eukarya, the three branches of the three-domain categorization scheme. Extremophiles have caused […] Continue reading

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Post 8

Now that the class has concluded, I would like to reflect on astronomy and the importance of the material that we learned. Astronomy is a fascinating topic, not only because of the nature of exploring the universe, but because it has implications for nearly every other science. From studying astronomy, we make revolutions in subjects […] Continue reading

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Final Post

It has been a long and interesting semester, filled with learning about everything from the laws of gravity, to the instruments of astronomy, and even alien life. Over the course of this semester, my view of the Solar System has changed drastically, both in detail and much more generally. I’ve learned many surprising facts about […] Continue reading

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