Category Archives: Stars

One Shift, Two Shift, Redshift, Blueshift

Posted on February 16, 2016 by samihahplanet

Images: Redshifted, blueshifted spectra,   The Doppler shift You’re probably already familiar with the doppler effect of sound. Every time you hear a car zoom past, it pitch changes from higher as it approaches to lower as it leaves. This is because sound is dependent on the relative position of the observer, and if the sound […] Continue reading →

Posted in Light, Physics, Stars | Tagged , | Comments Off on One Shift, Two Shift, Redshift, Blueshift

HW #B4 – To Blink Or Not To Blink

Posted on February 16, 2016 by evinske

On a warm night this summer on Edisto Island, SC, my friends and I took to the beach to go shrimping. The after-dark escapade turned into a feeding frenzy, reaping monstrous crustaceans with beady, red eyes. The younger kids eventually took turns in the water, and I sat on a sand dune and looked up at the clear […] Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Observables, Stars | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on HW #B4 – To Blink Or Not To Blink

Gravitational Waves

Posted on February 16, 2016 by podolakvandysolarsystem

One hundred years ago, Albert Einstein published his general theory of relativity. This theory predicted that the acceleration of extremely massive objects would create ripples in the fabric of space-time, called gravitational waves. Just last week, a team of scientists at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) announced that they had recorded a gravitational wave […] Continue reading →

Posted in Stars | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Gravitational Waves

Spectra Across Spectral Types

Posted on February 16, 2016 by briannagalgano

One of the beautiful aspects of the universe is that not every celestial object is exactly the same. The majority of stars spend their lives on the “main sequence” in which they have stable volume and continuously undergo hydrogen fusion. Astronomers use a classification system based solely upon the temperature of a star, assigning each […] Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Historical, Observables, Stars | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Spectra Across Spectral Types

The Serial Killer Known as Light

Posted on February 15, 2016 by astr2110geoffren

Pretty Much a Giant Lightsaber Gamma Radiation Bursts (GRB) make up the brightest flashes of light from outer space and it isn’t even a contest. If we had the ability to see them we would probably all instantaneously go blind. These flashes of light can last anywhere from a few milliseconds to a few minutes […] Continue reading →

Posted in Aliens, Class, Exoplanets, Galaxies, Stars | Tagged , | Comments Off on The Serial Killer Known as Light

The Sun and the Missing Neutrinos

Posted on February 13, 2016 by solarsystemjoe

First of all, what is a neutrino?  It’s an elementary particle, like an electron or a photon, but it hardly interacts with matter.  In fact, billions of neutrinos pass through you every second, but you don’t feel them.  This characteristic makes them hard to detect.  It’s no wonder that, in recent history, scientists thought some […] Continue reading →

Posted in Observables, Stars, Sun | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Sun and the Missing Neutrinos

Zodiacs

Posted on January 27, 2016 by samanthas25

Many people are familiar with zodiac signs; as kids we often look at them for weekly, daily, or monthly advice from things ranging from crushes to personalities. Whether or not our zodiac sign determines who we are, the constellations they are based off on is entirely a reality. Each month, as the Earth moves around […] Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Stars, Universe | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Zodiacs

The Zodiac Signs

Posted on January 26, 2016 by imanig625

Image link The zodiac signs surround a lot of peoples’ daily lives, in that most people look to a horoscope to direct their lives. The fact that the position of the stars at a certain time can tell so much about a person’s individual personality is absurd, yet we attribute personality traits to the constellations.… Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Stars, Sun | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Zodiac Signs

Identity Crisis

Posted on January 26, 2016 by Gabi Grys

I have, apparently, been living a lie. My entire life, I thought I was an Aquarius, yet I have recently come to learn that my astronomical Sun sign is off by nearly a month. Because of the phenomenon of precession (the work of the gravitational pull and the conservation of angular momentum to correct the […] Continue reading →

Posted in Stars | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Identity Crisis

Identity Crisis

Posted on January 26, 2016 by Gabi Grys

I have, apparently, been living a lie. My entire life, I thought I was an Aquarius, yet I have recently come to learn that my astronomical Sun sign is off by nearly a month. Because of the phenomenon of precession (the work of the gravitational pull and the conservation of angular momentum to correct the […] Continue reading →

Posted in Stars | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Identity Crisis