Category Archives: Instruments

includes telescopes and space probes

Faster than the Speed of Light

Posted on January 23, 2015 by Marissa LePore

In summer of 2013, the New York Times published an article about NASA’s (then) newest project. Physicists and engineers were trying to determine whether “warp drive” might one day be possible. Warp drive, for those of you who are not Trekkies, is traveling faster than the speed of light or 3.0 x 10^5 km/s, and thus far […] Continue reading →

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Avoiding Asteroids

Posted on April 9, 2014 by thomasridgway

We currently do not have any way of deflecting asteroids coming dangerously close to us. Although there aren’t any predicted …

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80% of the Universe That We Can’t See

Posted on April 8, 2014 by joshkphilips

Image Source Over the past couple of centuries, we have learned a great deal about our Universe. However, the more we seem to learn about the cosmos, the more we realize that we do not understand. When Jan Oort and Fritz Zwicky first hypothesized the existence of dark matter in our Universe, a breakthrough in […] Continue reading →

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NASA’s Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities Initiative

Posted on April 6, 2014 by Leigh

NASA has had a lot of success with their commercial space flight initiatives, and so is looking to branch out and extend offers to work with US private enterprises to offer more, new commercial space experiences. NASA is looking for … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Telescopes and Technology

Posted on February 17, 2014 by almetetj

Pictured above is an artists rendition of the James Webb telescope, a feat of modern technology that is to become the successor to the famous Hubble Telescope currently in orbit. While the Hubble was designed to observe relatively close astronomical phenomena, the JWST will be able to see much further. While at first this fact […] Continue reading →

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Telescope Stuff

Posted on February 17, 2014 by thegarrettnondorf

We’ve all had the urge. The urge to buy a camper, drive and drive till civilization disappears, and finally, under the starlit sky, to use the six foot telescope located in the back of the camper. Check it out. Picture That is how Man was meant to gaze at the stars. With a telescope lens … Continue reading Telescope Stuff → Continue reading →

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The IceCube

Posted on February 17, 2014 by hughavanheesewijk

There is a special telescope located in Antarctica accurately called the IceCube that has a very specific task.  The IceCube is supposed to find neutrinos. Neutrinos are high-energy subatomic particles that are supposedly made from tremendously energetic events far extremely far away from us. These neutrinos have “more than a 1,000 times the energy of […] Continue reading →

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Telescopes and Turbulence

Posted on February 17, 2014 by thomasridgway

    There are many problems that earth-based telescopes must cope with. Besides light pollution, the largest one is dealing …

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Astronomical Satellites

Posted on February 17, 2014 by Leigh

Astronomical Satellites are observatories of some sort that are in orbit around Earth. These observatories vary greatly in specifically what and how they observe, but they all share the same rational for being in space, instead of on Earth. On … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Blog #4: Telescopes

Posted on February 17, 2014 by Lauren

Even though I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, I have never taken the time to visit the renowned Griffith Observatory until this past winter break.  After my trip, I found my awestruck in wonder by the breathtaking beauty of the night sky.  It is difficult to see stars in the city since […] Continue reading →

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