Category Archives: Historical

What was Theia?

Posted on March 22, 2022 by Charles Littleton

Theia was about the size of Mars. It orbited with Earth.  It crashed into the Earth and the debris helped create the moon. The core of Theia combined with the core of Earth. Scientists disagree on this and some believe that it formed into multiple moons. It is hypothesized to have orbited in the L4 […] Continue reading →

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History of our Solar System

Posted on March 21, 2022 by jschorr21

Approx. 13.8 billion years ago, everything we know and love in the universe was formed with The Big Bang. Fast-forwarding 9.2 billion years, we can start to see the formation of our Solar System. 4.6 billion years ago, what we call the Solar System was nothing but a large cloud of debris, gas, and dust […] Continue reading →

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Persevering through the trials of landing on Mars

Posted on March 21, 2022 by timmyshaheen

Space rovers can cost a space program billions of dollars to make; in fact, Perseverance cost NASA 2.7 billion dollars. (Planetary) With that much money, time, and effort being put into a project, it makes sense that those behind it, wish to actually see their hard work successfully operate. For this to happen, the rover […] Continue reading →

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Halley’s Comet

Posted on March 20, 2022 by jesszhang782

Halley’s Comet was the first comet understood to be a periodic comet, or a comet that can pass through the solar system multiple times. The English astronomer Edmund Halley (1656-1742) noticed that the previously recorded orbits of three comets were ve… Continue reading →

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The Andromeda Galaxy

Posted on March 16, 2022 by Lindsey

The Andromeda Galaxy is one of the only galaxies visible without the aid of a telescope on Earth. It is a spiral galaxy, and it got its name because it is located in the constellation Andromeda. It is approximately 2,480,000 light years from Earth and has a diameter of approximately 200,000 light years. The first […] Continue reading →

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The Apollo Missions: Fun Facts

Posted on March 16, 2022 by Lindsey

Almost everyone has heard about the apollo missions to space and the valuable information obtained about our solar system. Here are some interesting facts about the apollo program: One crazy statistic is that the Saturn V launch vehicle was taller than the Statue of Liberty. This rocket was a huge engineering feat, reaching 316 feet […] Continue reading →

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blog post 02

Posted on February 21, 2022 by graceward02

NASA’s James Webb Telescope was launched on December 25, 2021. It is a collaborative effort between NASA (United States), The European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency. This telescope has four main areas where its data will be used: considering the first light in the universe, early assembly of galaxies in the universe, birth […] Continue reading →

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Historical Vanderbilt Astronomer

Posted on February 20, 2022 by AndreaS

If you have spent much time in E. Bronson Ingram residential college on Vanderbilt’s campus, you may have noticed that part of the dorm is named after one Edward Emerson Barnard. As it turns out, Barnard was an astronomer who attended the university from 1883-1887. His research focused on observation and photography of stars and […] Continue reading →

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Hypatia of Alexandria

Posted on February 20, 2022 by jordanekstein

Hypatia of Alexandria (335 CE – 415 CE) was an important mathematician and astronomer often credited as the first female astronomer and the last head librarian of the Library of Alexandria. Her father, Theos, was also an astronomer and mathematician and was the last official member of the Library of Alexandria. He also played a […] Continue reading →

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Eratosthenes the Excellent??

Posted on February 20, 2022 by alexlitt

Newton, Kepler, Galileo, Copernicus… Eratosthenes?? The name Eratosthenes is not as universally renowned, or even as known, as the likes of Newton or Galileo.; however, his contributions are just as exceptional. More than 2200 years ago, around 240 B.C.E, Eratosthenes correctly measured the circumference of the Earth to within 5% of its correct value. Considering […] Continue reading →

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