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Category Archives: Universe
The Oort Cloud
The Oort Cloud is a collection of comets that orbit the Sun far outside our solar system. One estimation of the number of comets in the Oort Cloud is one TRILLION. Unlike the Kuiper Belt, which lies outside the orbit of Neptune, the Oort Cloud neither lies on the same plane as the bodies orbitingContinue reading “The Oort Cloud” Continue reading
Posted in Class, Universe
Tagged astro2110, blog5, Comets, gravity, oort cloud, Solar System: Sun
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What Exactly Happened During the Big Bang?
I think the Big Bang is such an interesting piece of the Universe’s creation. An explosion that created everything that we observe right now. While the Big Bang is popularly known, I don’t think many people grasp how quickly and powerfully this explosion happened. For 10-43 seconds, the universe was inside of a microscopic pinpoint.Continue reading “What Exactly Happened During the Big Bang?” Continue reading
Which Exoplanet Could Be Planet B?
The transit method has already been used to discover a few thousand exoplanets and continues to discover more through both old observations and current missions. With this method, the brightness levels of stars in other solar systems are measured. When the brightness dims, this is a sign that an extrasolar planet may have passed inContinue reading “Which Exoplanet Could Be Planet B?” Continue reading
Posted in Class, Exoplanets, Light, Universe
Tagged astro2110, blog6, exoplanet, extrasolar, planets, space
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Ceres
Unlike recently discovered dwarf planets, Ceres was discovered in 1801. Ceres was the first asteroid discovered, it was first spotted on Jan. 1, 1801 by Sicilian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi. Ceres was named after the Roman goddess of agriculture. An interesting fact about Ceres was that after it was discovered an element in the period tableContinue reading “Ceres” Continue reading
Posted in Universe
Tagged astro2110, blog6, dwarf planet, exoplanet, Uncategorized
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Makemake
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
Black Holes and White Holes and Wormholes, Oh My!
They’re some of the most formidable entities in the universe: their strength is unmatched, they make their own rules, and if you get into a serious tussle with one, you’re almost guaranteed to lose. No, I’m not talking about moms. I’m talking about black holes, of course! Duh… If you’ve ever learned about astronomy, chancesContinue reading “Black Holes and White Holes and Wormholes, Oh My!” Continue reading
Posted in Class, Physics, Universe
Tagged astro2110, Black Holes, blog6, relativity, white holes, wormholes
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What Exactly is a Supernova?
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
Blog 4—Plato’s cosmology
In this blog, I would like to introduce the cosmology of the ancient Athenian philosopher Plato. His cosmology was the first systemic and complete cosmology in the history. He and his most famous student Aristotle both hold the geocentric view of the universe, and their perspectives of the universe were influential in the following thousandsContinue reading “Blog 4—Plato’s cosmology” Continue reading
Posted in Historical, Universe
Tagged astro2110, blog4, cosmology, plato, Solar System
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Pivoting from Principle
Astronomy is awesome. It lets us make cool observations (e.g., things that inform our understanding of the foundations of the universe, like the Cosmic Microwave Background), helps us ask big questions (e.g., why does the universe exist?), and reminds us that not all questions have answers (e.g., we can’t really expect an answer to theContinue reading “Pivoting from Principle” Continue reading
Is the Moon actually made of cheese?
Unfortunately, the answer is no. However, the story of why the Moon’s surface looks the way it does it still an interesting one and one that helps us understand the solar system as a whole. The surface of the Moon most closely resembles that of Mercury (due to the lack of geological activity that comesContinue reading “Is the Moon actually made of cheese?” Continue reading
Posted in Class, Moons, SolarSystem, Universe
Tagged astro2110, blog3, Moon, Solar System, space, Time
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