Category Archives: Stars

The Star That Vanished

Posted on May 1, 2021 by jagobillot

From 2001-2011, astronomers studied a luminous blue variable star about 75 million light years away in the Aquarius constellation. It was a massive star, about 2.5 million times brighter than our Sun, and it was approaching the end of its life. Flash forward to 2019, and an astronomer named Andrew Allan, began a study ofContinue reading “The Star That Vanished” Continue reading →

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Calling All Nerds! (Just Kidding, LOTR is Cool)

Posted on April 14, 2021 by olivesobservatory

This image may look familiar to all you high fantasy fans out there as the Eye of Sauron from Lord of the Rings, but what if I told you that you didn’t have to travel to Middle-earth to see it? I know you’re all on the edge of your seats now! This is an image… Continue reading →

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Makemake

Posted on April 14, 2021 by justinboreskyvanderbiltedu

Makemake was discovered in 2005 by Michael Brown, Chad Trujillo and David Rabinowitz. Makemake might be the most interesting dwarf planet with its cool name and special facts. Makemake is the second biggest dwarf planet and once it was discovered it led to the demise of the title of planet for Pluto. Because of MakemakeContinue reading “Makemake” Continue reading →

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What Exactly is a Supernova?

Posted on March 30, 2021 by miichellewang

To put it simply, supernovas are explosions of stars. They are the largest explosions that occur in our universe. There are actually two ways that supernovas can occur. The first way happens at the end of a star’s lifetime. Stars are able to get their energy through nuclear fusion, which is when two atoms combineContinue reading “What Exactly is a Supernova?” Continue reading →

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What threat do Coronal Mass Ejections Pose to Us?

Posted on March 22, 2021 by weatherbysofferings

As discussed in class, one of the side effects of the Sun’s shifting magnetic field is that, occasionally, it arranges in an inconvenient fashion that causes the Sun’s plasma to explode aggressively outward. Thankfully, whenever that comes towards Earth, we are protected from any health effects thanks to our atmosphere. But as Professor Grundstrom mentioned,Continue reading “What threat do Coronal Mass Ejections Pose to Us?” Continue reading →

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The Star Destroyer: Supernova

Posted on March 21, 2021 by brynicdew

Stars take the idea of a “last hurrah” to beautifully explosive level. When a star runs out of energy and collapses, it will condense into a bundle of energy and explode. Supernovas are by far the largest explosion in the universe and can only occur to a star that is truly massive. Supernovas normally occurContinue reading “The Star Destroyer: Supernova” Continue reading →

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Binary Stars

Posted on March 20, 2021 by ben141414

A binary star is a star system of two stars that orbit around the central point, called the barycenter. In conversation, binary stars are sometimes casually referred to as double stars. Binary star systems or multiple star systems (3+ stars in orbit in the same system) are actually way more common than you might think.Continue reading “Binary Stars” Continue reading →

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Comet

Posted on March 20, 2021 by justinboreskyvanderbiltedu

Is it a bird? a plane? a superhero? No it’s a Comet! Comet’s are “cosmic snowballs of frozen gases, rock and dust that orbit the Sun”. Comet’s generally range from the size of 750 meters to 20 kilometers. Currently there are 3,717 comets known to man. Comet’s form from dust particles combining to form icyContinue reading “Comet” Continue reading →

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The Danger of a Coronal Mass Ejection

Posted on March 19, 2021 by brianknapp

A Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) is essentially a powerful expulsion of plasma and accompanying magnetic field from the solar corona, or the sort of aura of plasma that surrounds our Sun. While they have an extremely cool name, and seem pretty neat, they could actually have a pretty significant impact on humanity. The Sun has an incrediblyContinue reading “The Danger of a Coronal Mass Ejection” Continue reading →

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Vanderbilt Dyer Observatory

Posted on February 27, 2021 by laineroberts

Looking for a place to up your stargazing? Vanderbilt University has an observatory just 20 minutes away from campus! The Dyer Observatory has a 24 inch reflecting telescope. This means that the telescope uses one or more mirrors to reflect light from space to form an image for the viewer. One of the advantages ofContinue reading “Vanderbilt Dyer Observatory” Continue reading →

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