Category Archives: Sun

Solar Eclipses 😱😎

Posted on January 22, 2023 by sadiekarr

(Eclipse over Jackson, Wyoming by Ronan Donovan via NatGeo) In August 2017 a total solar eclipse was witnessed by many, cutting across the United States. My family, here in Nashville, TN, was able to see it! Even though it was a Monday, and I should have had classes, my school was cancelled for the day […] Continue reading →

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Identifying Jupiter and Mars

Posted on January 21, 2023 by Europa

Last night, I was looking up at the night sky while walking to dinner. I noticed a few constellations, as well as two brighter points of light that I was pretty sure were Mars and Jupiter. Normally, I can identify them, but for some reason Mars didn’t look as red to me as it normally […] Continue reading →

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When the Sun Dies

Posted on May 5, 2022 by Kaitlyn Lane

All good things must come to an end, including the ancient (at least relative to humanity), life-giving star we see each day. Even though the sun is considered a young star, it still has a finite lifetime, and it will eventually “die” in about 5 billion years. The image above shows a rough timeline of […] Continue reading →

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Blog #4: Coronal Mass Ejections

Posted on March 22, 2022 by nadiamcglynn

Coronal Mass Ejections are ejections of solar wind and plasma from our Sun’s corona. The blast from a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME), carries about a billion tons of material away from the sun at speeds ranging from 250 km/s to almost 3000 km/s. (NOAA) If they are directed toward Earth when they are ejected from […] Continue reading →

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The Sun’s Nuclear Fusion

Posted on March 20, 2022 by solarelizabeth

The Sun has been producing a huge amount of energy for over 4 billion years through nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion is the process by which the Sun converts mass to energy. Albert Einstein’s equation, E=mc^2, reveals that a little bit of mass has a huge amount of potential energy which indicates why the sun has […] Continue reading →

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Blog 1 – Initial Review of SkyView Lite

Posted on January 31, 2022 by Jack Walton

SkyView Lite is an iPhone application that allows the user to point their phone at different parts of the sky and see an overlay of constellations in the direction that they point. I downloaded the app and tried it out. This post is going to be about my experience using the app. The app works […] Continue reading →

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The speed of light and what it means for the Earth-Sun system.

Posted on January 31, 2022 by alexlitt

The speed of light is one of the most important laws (or principles) in our Universe. The speed of light determines what we see and when we see it, as well as providing a universal “speed-limit” for countless celestial objects that zoom throughout the universe. I find it illuminating to consider the speed of light […] Continue reading →

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Totality

Posted on January 30, 2022 by Quint Gfroerer

On August 21, 2017, my family and I drove from Atlanta, Georgia to Clemson University in South Carolina to witness the solar eclipse in totality. Atlanta reached 97% totality, but Clemson reached complete totality: At about 2:37 PM, the moon completely covered the sun, positioning itself perfectly between earth and the sun and casting a […] Continue reading →

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Blog #1: Why is our neighborhood special?

Posted on January 30, 2022 by nadiamcglynn

But what about our place in the solar system makes life so conducive to earth? Why don’t we have cousins on Mars that we spend Thanksgiving with? Why doesn’t my uncle live on Venus? Continue reading →

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Total Solar Eclipse

Posted on January 30, 2022 by brendanehle

On August 21st, 2017, the citizens of Oregon to South Carolina got to see a total Solar Eclipse. Although there is a total solar eclipse approximately every 18 months visible somewhere on Earth, the odds of the eclipse’s path passing over head where you can see it is much lower. Many mathematicians and scientist have […] Continue reading →

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