Category Archives: Instruments

includes telescopes and space probes

The Largest Telescope in the World

Posted on February 7, 2018 by maxflorsheim

Wikipedia Commons In order to allow for astronomers to observe far into space, there are numerous gigantic telescopes laid out globally. None larger than the Gran Telescopio Canarias, located on the island of La Palma in the Spanish Canary Islands. As an infra-red telescope, the telescope seeks to explore questions such as the mystique surrounding […] Continue reading →

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GMT: What else is out there?

Posted on February 7, 2018 by Katie

This telescope, the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) is currently in the process of being built. It is a refractory telescope with 7 separate mirrors that each have a diameter of 8.4 meters. This telescope is going to be incredibly large. In fact, it is going to be the largest optical telescope to be built. According … Continue reading GMT: What else is out there? Continue reading →

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Of Light and Glass (Blog #2)

Posted on February 7, 2018 by Chris K.

Humans had been studying the stars for thousands of years before the first telescopes had been invented. The naked eye was enough to understand basic astronomical phenomena in the solar system, but if we wanted understand more, the human eye would need some help. Although they were primitive and only had magnifications of around three … Continue reading Of Light and Glass (Blog #2) → Continue reading →

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First Super-Earth Exoplanet with Atmosphere Discovered

Posted on April 27, 2017 by njelinek425

Earlier this month, scientists discovered the existence of an atmosphere on an exoplanet much like Earth, making this the first Earth-like exoplanet with atmosphere to have been detected aside from earth itself. The planet is named GJ 1132b, located in the constellation Vela as a planet of the low-mass star GJ 1132. The planet is […] Continue reading →

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Europa Clipper

Posted on April 24, 2017 by pkunetz97

In the not too distant future, NASA will be sending a probe to one of Jupiter’s moons. I’m sure you can guess from the title of this blog post that the probe will be sent to Europa. Recently, NASA announced the name of this mission: Europa Clipper. It is named after clippers, swift ships that […] Continue reading →

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12 Billion Miles Away and On Your TV

Posted on April 23, 2017 by Natalie

Ever wondered how a probe called Voyager managed to make it 12 billion miles away from this pale blue dot? … More Continue reading →

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Blog #5

Posted on April 4, 2017 by niharikadar

An Overview of the New Horizons Mission The Kuiper Belt is a very fascinating region of our solar system consisting largely of icy bodies and comets. Thus, there is a lot of really interesting research aiming to better understand the Belt itself and the objects that call it home. One NASA initiative in this regard is … Continue reading Blog #5 Continue reading →

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Blog #4

Posted on April 4, 2017 by niharikadar

Image of SAGE III Climate change is an oft-mentioned topic in a diverse range of conversations including those within the scientific community and increasingly in the political sphere as well. Despite a lot of ongoing talk about climate change, I think that many ordinary citizens, including myself, don’t have a good grasp of the science … Continue reading Blog #4 Continue reading →

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Rosetta and Philae

Posted on April 3, 2017 by Natalie

In March of 2004, two friends went ont he adventure of a lifetime. These two friends were the Rosetta space … More Continue reading →

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The Voyager Golden Record

Posted on March 29, 2017 by pkunetz97

  The Voyager Golden Record was a disc of sounds and images included with both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, both designed to study Jupiter and Saturn. Voyager 2 went on to study Uranus and Neptune, and is the only spacecraft to have visited them. However, these spacecraft are still gathering and emitting data even […] Continue reading →

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