Category Archives: Stars

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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Spectroscopy and Stars

Posted on February 27, 2021 by christianc3

While it may seem impossible to be able to identify the types of elements that stars billions of light years away are made of, scientists discovered a way to do exactly that. In the 1850s, Kirchhoff and Bunsen managed to identify what the black lines in light spectra meant, and it allowed them to identifyContinue reading “Spectroscopy and Stars” Continue reading →

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Celestial Navigation in Disney’s Moana

Posted on February 24, 2021 by thestarstudent

Celestial Navigation was essential for Polynesian voyagers, and the Disney Film Moana does a very good job of depicting legitimate techniques. During the film’s production, Disney created a group of experts on the matter, including Polynesian elders and locals, called the Oceanic Story Trust. Their goal was to advise on cultural accuracy. Thousands of yearsContinue reading “Celestial Navigation in Disney’s Moana” Continue reading →

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Celestial Navigation

Posted on February 24, 2021 by gracelearnsspace

People have been using the stars to navigate for most of humankind. Six hundred years BC a philosopher called Thales of Miletos taught people to use the Little Bear constellation to navigate. What’s crazy is that those are the same stars that we say today! Despite there being other stars to navigate, the most common […] Continue reading →

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The Gravity of Neutron Stars

Posted on February 23, 2021 by brianknapp

Apart from black holes, neutron stars are the densest objects in the universe – excluding some other weird stuff. These unique and very dense things can form after a star goes supernova and collapses. If the star is massive enough, the collapse will force protons and electrons to smash into each other to form neutrons.Continue reading “The Gravity of Neutron Stars” Continue reading →

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The Western Zodiac’s Origins

Posted on February 7, 2021 by weatherbysofferings

One of the most interesting aspects of Astronomy for me specifically is the element of spirituality or philosophy it tends to invoke. To witness the majesty and scale of universe evokes such wonder that, if you’ll allow some hyperbole, can at times be akin to a religious experience. I comment this not to say thatContinue reading “The Western Zodiac’s Origins” Continue reading →

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Blog1– the vast size of the universe

Posted on February 7, 2021 by zvrec

I am very excited to share this size comparison video of the universe, which I accidentally discovered last year. I watched this video for many times afterwards, and I could not stop myself gasping with astonishment at the vast size and the scale of the celestial bodies in the universe and the universe itself. ThisContinue reading “Blog1– the vast size of the universe” Continue reading →

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SkyView

Posted on February 6, 2021 by laineroberts

The app SkyView is a great way to apply your growing knowledge about astronomy to actual space! While it may be easy to look at a star map and tell which stars are which it’s much harder to do that when you are actually looking up at them from Earth. The app SkyView allows youContinue reading “SkyView” Continue reading →

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Astrolonomy?

Posted on February 5, 2021 by Peter Taylor

A little over two weeks ago, we entered arguably one the thirteen coolest months of the zodiac: Aquarius. (Yes, we still love you Ophiuchus). But what does that really even mean? What is Aquarius? Well, as I am sure you can tell from the constellation, Aquarius is clearly a water-bearer. But it is also muchContinue reading “Astrolonomy?” Continue reading →

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“He’s Such an Ophiuchus”: The Forgotten 13th Zodiac Sign

Posted on February 5, 2021 by wendyyb

In 2016, NASA shared this image of the zodiac constellations. Within this picture, we see the twelve signs commonly talked about in astrology, but we also see the presence of a less-discussed zodiac member: Ophiuchus. According to CNN, Ophiuchus is one of the 13 members of the Babylonian zodiac. However, 13 zodiac signs did notContinue reading ““He’s Such an Ophiuchus”: The Forgotten 13th Zodiac Sign” Continue reading →

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