Category Archives: Physics

ESA’s Rosetta Mission

Posted on February 14, 2015 by bryancm1

The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Rosetta mission is probably fresh in a lot of your minds as it came to fruition in November of last year. For those unaware, the Rosetta space probe is the first probe to orbit a comet – the Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The probe also came equipped with a lander, which touched down shortly […] Continue reading →

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Hubble’s Law

Posted on February 13, 2015 by jamej00

Photo Source: Hubble’s Law Considering the topic of what light can tell us, Hubble’s Law is one topic I’ve always found greatly interesting.  As the picture suggests, the redshift of a distant galaxy is in direct linear proportion to its distance from Earth.  This is the essence of Hubble’s Law – which relates a galaxy’s… Continue reading →

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Smiling Galaxy Cluster Found in Space!

Posted on February 13, 2015 by agiantchicken

That’s some intense gravitation lensing! A cluster of galaxies was recently discovered by the Hubble Telescope (AKA, uber relevant to class!) that appears to take on the shape of a bright smiling face. The galaxy cluster, known as SDSS J1038+4849, recently had the above picture taken by said telescope. While it may appear to us that […] Continue reading →

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Absorption Spectra

Posted on February 12, 2015 by jamej00

Photo Source: Absorption Spectrum The photo above is the full absorption spectrum of the sun.  The black lines come from the different chemical elements within its atmosphere, and this is true for all stars!  Different elements absorb and emit light at different wavelengths from one another.  Scientists have conducted (here on earth) experiments to determine… Continue reading →

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Tidal Changes from a Beach Stand

Posted on February 12, 2015 by dillonkoval

I worked for two years renting out beach umbrellas and chairs at Assateague State Park for two summers in high school. I would walk out to the beach and set up my little stand next to a fence used to protect the dunes from wandering beach-goers. Assateague has a very large sandbar and some days […] Continue reading →

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My favorite tides

Posted on February 9, 2015 by drgrundstrom

DIFFERENTIALS!! :) During class today, I talked about tides and how there is a great deal of misinformation out there. My favorite websites for the astronomical explanation of tides are: A rigorously correct but a tiny bit snarky treatment – it’s my favorite: Tidal Misconceptions by Dr. Donald E. Simanek One of the links from […] Continue reading →

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My favorite tides

Posted on February 9, 2015 by drgrundstrom

DIFFERENTIALS!! :) During class today, I talked about tides and how there is a great deal of misinformation out there. My favorite websites for the astronomical explanation of tides are: A rigorously correct but a tiny bit snarky treatment – it’s my favorite: Tidal Misconceptions by Dr. Donald E. Simanek One of the links from […] Continue reading →

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The World’s Largest Vaccuum

Posted on February 9, 2015 by jclyncmp

The world’s largest vacuum is located at NASA’s Space Power Facility in Ohio. In this video, a bowling ball and a feather are dropped together under the conditions of outer space to demonstrate the concept that objects will fall at…

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Astronomy and Religion in Germany: The Story of Johannes Kepler

Posted on February 3, 2015 by emilyksharp

Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) Johannes Kepler’s work began when he apprenticed for Tycho Brahe in the year preceding Tycho’s death. Kepler …

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Just how small… or big… am I?

Posted on January 23, 2015 by jamej00

The Known Universe This video really puts into perspective the true size of the observable universe.  Some say this makes us insignificant, but I disagree.  I think that our ability to map the nature of the universe to such an extent makes us quite significant! Realize that everything we know about the universe came solely from… Continue reading →

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