Category Archives: Historical

Not faster than light, but still incredible

Posted on April 29, 2015 by lindenmuthadam

The use of ion thrusters (literally using ionized electrons and protons as a source of thrust!) in space has been floated around as a method for interstellar propulsion in science fiction for decades, yet was not a reality until the turn of the millennium. Scientists at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio developed […] Continue reading →

Posted in Historical, Instruments, Public Policy | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Not faster than light, but still incredible

Is the Drake Equation Useful?

Posted on April 28, 2015 by matthewrbirnbaum

The idea behind the Drake equation is perfectly logically. Take the variables that most likely determine whether or not life exists, assign a value to those variables and calculate the number of civilizations. And to put the Drake equation in perspective I will quote the one, the only, Drake “I’ve never been reckless – always calculated.” That […] Continue reading →

Posted in General, Historical | Tagged , | Comments Off on Is the Drake Equation Useful?

Earth’s Cousin

Posted on April 23, 2015 by jamej00

Source: slate.com This picture is an artist’s depiction of what the rocky planet Kepler-186f might look like.  On April 17, 2014 astronomer’s announced that they had found this planet using the transit method, making it the first confirmed earth-size exoplanet in the habitable zone!  There is no data yet on whether or not Kepler-186f has… Continue reading →

Posted in Exoplanets, Historical | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Earth’s Cousin

Pluto and I

Posted on April 17, 2015 by Marissa LePore

This is the first-full color photo  taken of Pluto ever that NASA published yesterday. The space probe New Horizons took the image about 71 million miles away as it nears the “dwarf” planet. New Horizons is the fastest spacecraft ever launched and the first in history to visit Pluto. The unprecedented flyby is expected to take […] Continue reading →

Posted in Dwarf Planets, Historical, Observables | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Pluto and I

Liquid Confidence

Posted on April 16, 2015 by Marissa LePore

“I believe we are going to have strong indications of life beyond Earth in the next decade and definitive evidence in the next 10 to 20 years,” Ellen Stofan, chief scientist for NASA. “It’s definitely not an if, it’s a when,” said Jeffery Newmark, one of Stofan’s colleagues. NASA made these bold claims at a […] Continue reading →

Posted in Aliens, Dwarf Planets, Historical | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Liquid Confidence

Historical Astronomers in Context

Posted on April 15, 2015 by jshabazz93

Tycho Brahe – Born December 14, 1546; Died October 24, 1601 Tycho Brahe was important to astronomy, because he witnessed a supernova and through that he rejected the Aristotelian belief that the celestial realm was unchanging. During the period that Tycho Brahe was alive the Renaissance was going on. This was a period starting in […] Continue reading →

Posted in Historical | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Historical Astronomers in Context

Blog Post #8: Mike Brown and Eris

Posted on April 6, 2015 by Elizabeth D.

We did blog posts on historical astronomers, so why not take a look at recent history, too? Mike Brown was briefly mentioned …

Continue reading →

Continue reading →

Posted in Historical | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Blog Post #8: Mike Brown and Eris

Krakatoa: Will It Erupt Again?

Posted on April 5, 2015 by pgolemanska

Krakatoa is one of the deadliest volcanoes in human history. The island of Krakatoa (Krakatau) is part of the Indonesian Island Arc. It’s a volcanic island that has undergone a dramatic eruption in 1883. In May 1883, sailors began noticing clouds of ash rising more than 6 miles above the volcano as shown on the […] Continue reading →

Posted in Historical | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Krakatoa: Will It Erupt Again?

The Cosmic Snowball

Posted on April 5, 2015 by jamej00

Halley’s Comet This video tells us about the history of Halley’s Comet, which turns out to have actually been documented in medieval history in previous passes by the sun.  Because of the rarity with which comets actually appear in our night sky, they used to be tied to ancient superstitions; for example, to the ancient Chinese they signaled a… Continue reading →

Posted in Historical, Small SS Objects, SolarSystem | Tagged , | Comments Off on The Cosmic Snowball

The Mystery of the Mass Extinction

Posted on April 5, 2015 by oliviasn

Before reading the section in Chapter 12 of the textbook on cosmic collisions (Section 12.4), I had not realized that there exists some controversy as to whether or not an impact killed the dinosaurs. I had always been taught that an asteroid hitting the Earth resulted in the mass extinction and had never considered that […] Continue reading →

Posted in Historical | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Mystery of the Mass Extinction