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Category Archives: Instruments
Blog #4 Spacecraft and “Gold Foil”
If you’ve ever seen pictures of satellites being prepped in clean rooms, you’ve probably seen the immense amounts of gold foil covering the crafts. You might think the foil’s purpose is to keep the probe clean until launch, or that gold’s conductive and malleable properties aid the function of the vehicle. For space travel, it’s neither. […] Continue reading
Posted in Class, Instruments, SolarSystem, Space Travel
Tagged astro2110, blog4, new horizons
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Blog #3 James Webb Space Telescope
The flagship of the next generation telescopes launches in October 2018. The James Webb Space Telescope is an infrared telescope with its focus on the very first light from the Big Bang. With its 6.5 meter primary mirror and various cameras and spectrometers, the JWST will study the boundaries of the observable universe as well […] Continue reading
Posted in Instruments, Light
Tagged astro2110, blog3, infrared, JWST, Observation, telescope
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The Hubble Space Telescope
Until this past September when LIGO heard gravitational waves, our knowledge of the universe has come from visual observations. When Galileo began using his telescope in the early 1600s, our notion of the natural world completely evolved. Today, we have telescopes whose … Continue reading → Continue reading
The Gran Telescopio CANARIAS
When it comes to reflecting telescopes, bigger can mean better. The Gran Telescopio CANARIAS (GTC), located on the island of La Palma in the Canaries, Spain, is currently the largest single-aperture optical telescope in the world. Its primary mirror surface is made up of thirty-six hexagon segments; together these segments function as one primary mirror […] Continue reading
Posted in Instruments, Light
Tagged astro2110, blog3, telescopes
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Want to Buy a Telescope?
If you would love to see deeper into space from your own home, you may be interested in buying your very own telescope! Fortunately, Sky & Telescope has some guidelines to help you make this big purchase, as described by Kelly Beatty in her recent article, “How to Choose Your First Telescope.” Here are some highlights […] Continue reading
Posted in Class, Instruments, Science
Tagged astro2110, blog3, telescopes
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Your Zodiac Sign is Wrong: 3 Misconceptions You Have About the Night-Sky
We all get it. You’re a Capricorn or a Taurus or a Sagittarius or a(n) [any other zodiac constellation]. You’ve read all of your horoscopes, and they fit your personality soooo well. “This is so me,” you might yell to your friends, completely disregarding the fact that they don’t care which vague internet prediction you identify with. […] Continue reading
Posted in Aliens, Class, Dwarf Planets, Exoplanets, Galaxies, General, Historical, Instruments, Jovians, Light, Moons, Observables, Outreach, Physics, Planet Rings, Public Policy, Science, Small SS Objects, SolarSystem, Space Travel, Stars, Sun, Terrestrials, Universe
Tagged astro2110, blog2, Misconceptions, seasons, zodiac signs
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Human’s Fascination of the Solstices
If there was one thing that early humans revered most, it may have been the position of the Sun. Ancient cultures around the world, before the first cities ever existed, built monuments to measure the Sun’s position (known as archaeoastronomy). The most famous of which is Stonehenge in England, which has its entrances aligned to […] Continue reading
Posted in Class, Historical, Instruments, Sun
Tagged astro2110, blog2, calendar, Solar System, solstice, stonehenge, technology, Time
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Public and private solutions to space exploration
I firmly believe that for space exploration to grow by leaps and bounds, there has to be economic incentives for entrepreneurs to create companies that explore the universe. Governmental agencies can do incredible things, but they are often held back by politics and budgetary shortfalls. Thankfully we are at the forefront of this change from […] Continue reading
Posted in Instruments, Public Policy
Tagged astro201, blog10, spacex
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Not faster than light, but still incredible
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 astro201, blog9, dawn, NASA
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Sending Chuck Berry to Space
In 1977, NASA launched the spacecraft Voyager 1 into space to observe Jupiter and Saturn and, eventually, to travel outside …
Posted in Aliens, Class, Instruments
Tagged astro201, astrobiology, blog9, communications, golden record, life, voyager
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