Category Archives: Instruments

includes telescopes and space probes

Human’s Fascination of the Solstices

Posted on January 26, 2016 by 2016spaceodyssey

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 →

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Public and private solutions to space exploration

Posted on April 29, 2015 by lindenmuthadam

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 →

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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 →

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Sending Chuck Berry to Space

Posted on April 29, 2015 by emilyksharp

In 1977, NASA launched the spacecraft Voyager 1 into space to observe Jupiter and Saturn and, eventually, to travel outside …

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Thoughts

Posted on April 28, 2015 by alephnulluniverse

People said that the current generation is born too early to explore space, yet born too late to explore Earth. I do not believe that to be true. Humans are learning and exploring space everyday through space probes, telescopes, and other instruments. While, the current generation will probably not be able to explore space physically, […] Continue reading →

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Hubble Telescope’s 25th Birthday

Posted on April 26, 2015 by pgolemanska

On April 24th, 2015, Hubble celebrated its 25th anniversary. It celebrated its birthday by taking some amazing images of some giant star clusters. The image above is one of Westerlund 2 which is a giant cluster of stars and dust – a breeding area for new stars. The dust pillars are the main areas where […] Continue reading →

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Voyager 2

Posted on April 26, 2015 by pgolemanska

Today Voyager 1 was on Earth just 38 years and now it’s more than 130 AU away. It is venturing into deep space and exploring areas of the Universe that we have never seen before. On September 12, 2013, the spacecraft left the Solar System. The spacecraft is unique and fascinating in many ways. We […] Continue reading →

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The Search for Extrasolar Planets

Posted on April 6, 2015 by farhannshabab

Extrasolar planets, or exoplanets, lie outside our solar system. We have so far discovered nearly 2000 exoplanets, most of which are Jovian planets like Jupiter. However in 2009, a possibly Earth like planet was discovered: Gliese 581d had the potential to support liquid water on its possibly rocky surface. It has a mass of around […] Continue reading →

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Kepler Search for Exoplanets

Posted on April 5, 2015 by robbyks

The Kepler spacecraft entered its 4th observing campaign in February. There are nearly 16,000 target stars, which are being searched for exoplanets and other astrophysical phenomena. Included in the target are two open star clusters in the Taurus constellation. Onboard fuel is projected to last until December 2017. In its previous campaigns, the Kepler team […] Continue reading →

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Ganymede’s Ocean

Posted on April 5, 2015 by pgolemanska

When we think of Earth we tend to associate it very strongly with water and life. It makes sense since water covers up 75% of Earth’s surface. Water in liquid form seems to be unique to our world … or does it? … As it turns out, Earth’s salty water oceans may not be the […] Continue reading →

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