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Category Archives: Historical
Where did all the dinosaurs go?
I think one of the more fascinating topics in Earth’s past is the mystery of the dinosaurs. They were here 65 million years ago (for a shockingly long time—if you remember, they were here for almost a week in the “calendar” of the universe!) and then suddenly disappeared. So, what happened to them? It is […]
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Posted in Historical, Terrestrials
Tagged asteroid, astro2110, blog8, comet, Dinosaurs, extinction, impact, Solar System
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Radiocarbon Dating
Radiocarbon Dating is a method of determining how old an object is by the amount of carbon in it. The majority of organic matter contains carbon, and while carbon is not usually radioactive one of its isotopes, 14C is radioactive. This means that 14C will have a defined half-life, the amount of time is takes […]
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A Natural Lightshow
When I think about light shows, I think about Disney World. Every night in the Magic Kingdom that have a “lightshow spectacular” full of elaborate parade floats decked out in incredible light schemes set to music. The show is pretty cool, but there’s one even cooler that our Earth puts on every night all on […]
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The Formation of the Solar System
The general consensus amongst astrophysicists is that our solar system was formed through a process of gravitational collapse of a dense cloud. Over time, a large portion of the mass settled at the center, forming the Sun. The formation of the sun produced a swirling disk called a solar nebula. This disk of matter orbiting […]
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Posted in Class, Historical, Universe
Tagged astro2110, blog5, formation, space, theuniverse
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The Pock-Marked Sun God
Sunspots are areas on the Sun that appear darker compared to their surroundings because they are cooler than the areas around them. This does not mean that the spots are actually cold, but relative to the 5800K temperature of the rest of the Sun, sunspots are much cooler at 4000K. Magnetic fields prevent the hotter …
The Pock-Marked Sun God
Sunspots are areas on the Sun that appear darker compared to their surroundings because they are cooler than the areas around them. This does not mean that the spots are actually cold, but relative to the 5800K temperature of the rest of the Sun, sunspots are much cooler at 4000K. Magnetic fields prevent the hotter […]
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A Year in Space
Just last month Scott Kelly finished what many of us would deem unbearable: spending a year in space. For almost an entire year, Scott Kelly lived with fellow Russian Cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko on the International Space Station in order to see the effects that long durations in zero-gravity conditions have on the human body. Prior to […]
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Posted in Historical, Physics
Tagged astro2110, blog6, Solar System, spacetravel, Time
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Tennessee Tectonics
Although Tennessee is in the middle of North America, we are still affected by tectonic activity. There are earthquakes in this region from time to time, thanks to the New Madrid Fault. This Tectonophysics article helps us understand why there are earthquakes in Tennessee. North America began to rift, or break apart, in the Late […]
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Posted in Class, Historical, Science
Tagged astro2110, blog5, earthquake, geology
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Out of this World Symbols
Astronomers, like all scientists, love their symbols. Why spend ages written out full text when shorthand will do? Not only are the symbols for the planets convenient, they also have interesting stories behind them that tie into the planet’s history. Sun: The symbol for the sun is a circular shield with a dot in the […]
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Posted in Historical, Moons
Tagged astro2110, blog4, planets, Solar System
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We’re all attractive (by gravity!)
We like to think science has everything figured out—and it has in fact come very far to that end. But there are still many things in the world and the universe that has researchers scratching their heads. One of these phenomena is gravity, the force that attracts all objects. Sure, we know how to calculate […]
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