Category Archives: Light

Blog #3 James Webb Space Telescope

Posted on February 14, 2016 by seanmcsolsys

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 →

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The Hubble Space Telescope

Posted on February 14, 2016 by martisnv

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 →

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The Gran Telescopio CANARIAS

Posted on February 13, 2016 by Chloe

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 →

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Observing Invisible Light

Posted on February 9, 2016 by clharrell

The invention of the telescope revolutionized the way astronomers observe the universe. They’ve enabled us to view light from around the galaxies that is not visible to the naked eye. These other forms of light can teach us things that visible light cannot – if we can find a way to visualize them. Astronomers today […] Continue reading →

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Traveling at the Speed of Light

Posted on January 26, 2016 by imanig625

Traveling at the speed of light is entirely impossible in this present day and age, and the question of whether or not we will be able to travel at such a high speed or faster is still unanswerable. The speed of light sets the speed limit for the universe, so that should mean that light… Continue reading →

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Chase’s Solar System blog 2016-01-26 19:46:22

Posted on January 26, 2016 by chasejaeger

Earth’s Elliptical Orbit and Seasons Though a common misconception about the cause of seasons is that they are caused by the Earth’s distance to the Sun, in actuality, seasons are caused by Earth’s 23 degree axial tilt. But why do changes in Earth’s distance from the Sun have virtually no effect on temperatures on Earth? […] Continue reading →

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The Speed of Light

Posted on January 26, 2016 by podolakvandysolarsystem

The speed of light is very, very fast, almost incomprehensibly fast. It is unusual to think that whenever we see an object, light is bouncing off that object and hitting our eye. We perceive this to be instantaneous, but it actually takes some infinitesimal amount of time for light to travel from nearby objects to […] Continue reading →

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The Speed of Light

Posted on January 26, 2016 by podolakvandysolarsystem

The speed of light is very, very fast, almost incomprehensibly fast. It is unusual to think that whenever we see an object, light is bouncing off that object and hitting our eye. We perceive this to be instantaneous, but it actually takes some infinitesimal amount of time for light to travel from nearby objects to […] Continue reading →

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Your Zodiac Sign is Wrong: 3 Misconceptions You Have About the Night-Sky

Posted on January 26, 2016 by harperastronomyblog

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 →

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The Universal Speed Limit

Posted on January 26, 2016 by solarsystemjoe

According to the Special Theory of Relativity, the speed at which light travels is the same in all reference frames.  In other words, you will always observe that light will travel at 2.99*10^8 m/s, regardless of how fast you’re going.  At first, one might think that this number is so high that it would make little […] Continue reading →

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