Category Archives: Universe

Blog 6 Aristotle’s cosmology

Posted on April 23, 2021 by zvrec

In this blog, I would like to introduce Aristotle’s model of the universe. The cosmic theory from Aristotle is clearly wrong from the view of modern science. However, before modern astronomy was developed, Aristotle’s ideas about our world dominated people’s belief for thousands of years. It was embraced by scholars, philosophers, and religious leaders asContinue reading “Blog 6 Aristotle’s cosmology” Continue reading →

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Galaxies

Posted on April 20, 2021 by 20harriganc

Galaxies are cosmic Islands of stars, gas, dust and dark matter. They span across very long distances and they are held together by gravity. There are multiple types of Galaxies as shown in the the photo above. The word galaxy is derived from the greek word “galaxias”. It means milky, which is a direct referenceContinue reading “Galaxies” Continue reading →

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Kuiper Belt Objects

Posted on April 20, 2021 by 20harriganc

The Kuiper Belt is a region in the solar system beyond the orbit of Neptune as shown in the photo above. Although they have only scratched the surface, there has been about 2,000 objects discovered so far in the Kuiper belt. It is said to be filled with bits of rock and ice, along withContinue reading “Kuiper Belt Objects” Continue reading →

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The Oort Cloud

Posted on April 17, 2021 by Mykayla

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 →

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What Exactly Happened During the Big Bang?

Posted on April 17, 2021 by jagobillot

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 →

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Which Exoplanet Could Be Planet B?

Posted on April 17, 2021 by brandonlipper

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 →

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Ceres

Posted on April 17, 2021 by justinboreskyvanderbiltedu

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 →

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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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Black Holes and White Holes and Wormholes, Oh My!

Posted on April 12, 2021 by rightascensionanddeclinolan

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 →

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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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