Category Archives: General

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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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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Second Planet to the Sun

Posted on March 12, 2019 by reallyroyalqueen

The planet Venus is named for the Roman goddess of love and beauty. It is the second largest terrestrial planet. It is also the second brightest natural object in the sky. Venus’ apparent magnitude of -3.8 to -4.6 makes it visible on a clear day. Venus’ atmosphere can be divided into two layers: the cloud … Continue reading Second Planet to the Sun → Continue reading →

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Newton’s Law of Gravitation and General Relativity

Posted on February 10, 2019 by richardficek

Isaac Newton’s law of universal gravitation first appeared in the Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica in July 1687. It describes why that apple fell on Newton’s head (as some stories would have it), why we stay rooted to the ground (without drifting off into space), and why the Earth is locked in orbit around the Sun (among … Continue reading Newton’s Law of Gravitation and General Relativity → Continue reading →

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Light is Everything

Posted on February 10, 2019 by Harrison Chen

I watched a Crash Course video on light that proved to be really helpful and informative. After watching this video, I realized the importance of spectroscopy and understood what light actually is. The scientific term for light is actually electromagnetic radiation, and even humans emit them. Once again, the video touched upon the wavelength spectrum. … Continue reading Light is Everything → Continue reading →

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Ancient Achievements

Posted on February 10, 2019 by reallyroyalqueen

In other religions, there was no need for astronomy except for the creation of the calendar. Ancient Pagans used Stonehenge to determine their calendar. In Early Judaism, they created their calendar. For Christianity, although it helped dictate holidays, it had pushback from philosophy and scientific observations. Astronomy played a major role in early Islam. Besides … Continue reading Ancient Achievements → Continue reading →

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The Universe as the United States

Posted on January 21, 2019 by Andrew Talley

If there’s one straightforward lesson from astronomy, it’s that we’re tiny. We’re small compared to the Earth’s vast size, which is small compared to the sun, which is tiny compared to the space that contains our solar system, which is a tiny dot in one arm of the Milky Way galaxy, which is one of … Continue reading The Universe as the United States → Continue reading →

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Power of Ten Reaction

Posted on January 20, 2019 by Harrison Chen

I have a wall in my dorm room where I have started to post quotes that I love. After watching the Power of Ten video, I think I may have another quote that I will post to my wall collection. Philip Morrison, the narrator in the video, says: “This lonely scene, the galaxies like dust, … Continue reading Power of Ten Reaction → Continue reading →

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The Size of the Universe, Relative to the Size of a Picnicker

Posted on January 20, 2019 by luanaisaac1125

The video begins with a man and a woman out on a picnic, then begins zooming out farther and farther. They start with a focus image 1 x 1 meter wide, then zoom out to a field of vision 10 times larger every ten seconds. So, the first zoom out brings the image to 10m … Continue reading The Size of the Universe, Relative to the Size of a Picnicker → Continue reading →

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Picture the enormous universe

Posted on January 20, 2019 by Yihao Yan

The vast size of universe is so hard to picture in one image because its size is unbelievably enormous compared to human and Earth. Our planet Earth has the size around 12,742 km diameter. And the nearest object to us is moon which is approximately 384,400 km from us. The number is already huge in … Continue reading Picture the enormous universe → Continue reading →

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