Category Archives: Observables

things we can see from Earth using our eyeballs or telescopes

Tardigrades: Powers of the “Water Bear”

Hot, cold, dry, wet, and even the vacuum of space – somehow, the tardigrade can survive them all. Continue reading

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Personal Space

Some 13,000 light-years away, in the Camelopardalis, or giraffe, constellation lies a rather unique binary star.  Two young, massive, blue stars are orbiting each other so quickly that they make a full revolution in a mere 28 hours.  In fact, the two stars of the MY Camelopardalis system are orbiting one another so closely that […] Continue reading

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Blog #6

Image of Ceres The asteroid belt lies between Mars and Jupiter. This area is where the dwarf planet Ceres is located. Given that it was the first dwarf planet to be visited by a spacecraft and the largest object in the asteroid belt, there have been quite a few interesting discoveries about this celestial object. Here … Continue reading Blog #6 Continue reading

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Jupiter’s Storms

On a world where the entire surface and most of the atmosphere are composed of dense, fast-moving clouds, you can imagine that the storms are slightly worse than our regular terrestrial thunderstorm. Of course, the most famous of Jupiter’s maelstroms is the Great Red Spot, aptly named for its blue color (kidding) and impressive diameter, […] Continue reading

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The Hale-Bopp Comet

Comet Hale-Bopp, also known as the The Great Comet of 1997, was a comet that appeared in – you guessed it – 1997. It was first discovered in 1995 by both Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp, after whom it was named. It was first visible in mid 1996, but did not reach its brightest until […] Continue reading

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The Trojans and Greeks

As was recently discussed in class, there are two clusters of asteroids ahead of and behind Jupiter known as the “Trojans” and the “Greeks”. The first one to be discovered was an asteroid now known as “Achilles”, a hero who fought on the Greek side of the Trojan War. The Greeks are all slightly ahead […] Continue reading

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Feb 27 Solar Eclipse

On February 27, 2017 there will be an annular solar eclipse visible in parts of the South America and Southern Africa. A solar eclipse happens when the moon gets between the earth and the sun. An annular solar eclipse is like a total solar eclipse but instead of blocking all the visible light from the … Continue reading “Feb 27 Solar Eclipse” Continue reading

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Feb 27 Solar Eclipse

On February 27, 2017 there will be an annular solar eclipse visible in parts of the South America and Southern Africa. A solar eclipse happens when the moon gets between the earth and the sun. An annular solar eclipse is like a total solar eclipse but instead of blocking all the visible light from the … Continue reading “Feb 27 Solar Eclipse” Continue reading

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Planetary Defense System

Earth sees its own fair share of incoming projectiles from space, but it’s extremely rare to find an event that poses any real threat to Earth or its life.  Most of this safety comes from that fact that space is inconceivably large; the possibility of being hit by an asteroid that could do any real […] Continue reading

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Solar Eclipse in August

This August 21, Nashville, TN will have one of the best views in the United States to view the upcoming solar eclipse.  Middle Tennessee will have around 2 minutes 30 seconds of eclipse and will be right in the path of the total eclipse.  The eclipse will begin at around 1:30 pm, Central Time. This […] Continue reading

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