Category Archives: Science

Planet 9 (Post 5)

The Kuiper Belt is a doughnut shaped group of ice, rock, comets, and dwarf planets, beyond Neptune. There have been discussion recently about whether there is a ninth planet within the Kuiper Belt. These discussions began back in 1846 after the discovery of Neptune, but they became more focused when it was discovered that the […] Continue reading

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Amateur Astronomer Discovers Jupiter’s 80th Moon

Amateur Astronomer Kai Ly used images from the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope taken in 2003 to identify a previously undiscovered Satellite orbiting Jupiter, the first planetary moon discovered by an amateur astronomer. The telescope used was the 3.6 meter Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope located on Mauna Kea. Ly used an image captured in February 2003 to identify a set […] Continue reading

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Cryovolcanoes on Pluto

A recent discovery published by Nature Communications has revealed a series of ice volcanoes on the surface of Pluto. The images which lead to this discovery were captured by Nasa’s New Horizons in 2015, but it was only recently that scientists were able to identify specific peaks that they now believe are ice volcanoes, known […] Continue reading

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Thousands of Other Planets (Post 4)

Other planets and galaxies in space have been the subject of many science fiction novels and television shows, most notably Star Trek. This week, NASA officially confirmed that 5,000 exoplanets outside of our Solar System exist. This discovery is monumental within the astronomy community, because although it has been speculated that there are millions or […] Continue reading

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Nuclear Fusion: The energy of the universe… but not the energy of the Earth?

Nuclear fusion is the fundamental source of energy generation in our universe. Stars (like our Sun) undergo nuclear fusion in their cores and emit energy in the form of heat and light. This stellar energy stands in the way of a dark, cold, lifeless universe, and provides the necessary ingredients for life on Earth. Sadly, […] Continue reading

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The Evolution of Earth’s Atmosphere

So many of Earth’s features today, from our blue sky to life itself, depend on the atmosphere surrounding the planet, but it has taken billions of years to evolve to where it is today. This post will explore the evolution and progression of Earth’s atmosphere as well as the processes that led to these changes. […] Continue reading

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Climate Change and Cryptocurrency (Post 3)

Climate change is a pressing issue in that it has the capability to completely destroy the way humans live life on Earth. One of the main types of emissions is CO2 and it is causing our atmosphere to heat rapidly. Cryptocurrency is a new trend that is focused on decentralizing finance and allowing owners of […] Continue reading

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blog post 04

Many people have traveling to see the Northern Lights on their bucket lists. This unique phenomenon typically occurs near the Arctic Circle, with places like Finland advertising tourist expeditions to see them. The Northern Lights, otherwise known as aurora, occur when ions from solar winds collide with atoms of different elements (oxygen, nitrogen) in Earth’s […] Continue reading

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blog post 03

Nuclear fusion reactions power stars. In nuclear fusion, 2 atoms’ nuclei merge and form a heavier single nucleus. The leftover mass becomes energy. In stars like the Sun, this is generally the transformation of Hydrogen to Helium (proton-proton chain). Other, more massive stars, use the CNO cycle (uses more elements) to accomplish energy transformation. The […] Continue reading

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Legacy Survey of Space and Time: The future of astronomical observation is here…. almost!

Just two years from now, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will commence operations, beginning its mission to image nearly 40 billion celestial objects over 10 years! These observations will be made with the world’s largest digital camera and an enormous 8.4 meter (in diameter) telescope, ensuring that its images will be of the highest quality. […] Continue reading

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