Category Archives: Universe

So Extra…

Posted on April 7, 2016 by Sofia

Extrasolar planets are very important to our study of the universe. The idea that there are planets that orbit other stars the way we orbit the Sun changes our entire perspective of how the universe operates. There are many challenges with detecting extrasolar planets, but once they are found they can provide us with a … Continue reading “So Extra…” Continue reading →

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Charon: The Major Key to Pluto

Posted on April 7, 2016 by Sofia

Up until very recently, Pluto was considered the ninth planet of our solar system. That all changed when the definition of a planet was revised, and Pluto just became another Kuiper belt object albeit the most famous one. We know significantly more about Pluto than any other Kuiper belt object simply because it was discovered … Continue reading “Charon: The Major Key to Pluto” Continue reading →

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Rocky Planets Shouldn’t Get This Big…

Posted on April 6, 2016 by andyastronomer

Planetary formation theorists are scratching their heads at the recent discovery of the largest rocky world found to date – BD+20594b. This exoplanet is a rocky world with a diameter half that of Neptune. With a planet that size, one may think that we were talking about a gas giant, but we’re not. According to our present […] Continue reading →

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Pluto’s Heart

Posted on April 6, 2016 by clharrell

The Tombaugh Regio, nicknamed “Pluto’s Heart” (pictured above), is one of the most extensively studied features of the dwarf planet. Thanks to NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, we can get a closer glimpse into the heart-shaped bright spot on Pluto’s surface. More recently, New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Stern has theorized that Tombaugh Regio is the result of […] Continue reading →

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The Mystery of “Hot Jupiters”

Posted on April 6, 2016 by alecsolarsystem

Over the last decade, astronomers have discovered thousands of exoplanets, many of which have gone against our current understanding of planet formation. Most of these exoplanets orbit very close to their star, as these are the easiest to discover since they block out more light from their respective stars than planets orbiting farther out do. […] Continue reading →

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Global Astronomy Month!

Posted on April 4, 2016 by paxtonastronomy

Wow! April is quite the month. The sun is shining, finals are approaching, and it is Global Astronomy Month (GAM)! Prior to this class, I didn’t know April was GAM. However, today I was trying to decide what to write my blog about, and I stumbled upon an article about GAM. From my research, I’ve […] Continue reading →

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7 Things You Should Know About the Kuiper Belt

Posted on March 31, 2016 by HB

1. The Kuiper Belt is an elliptical band of objects beyond Neptune’s orbit extending from 30 to 55 AU. It is similar to the asteroid belt except the objects in the Kuiper Belt are made more from ice than rock. Pluto is a part of the Kuiper Belt and comets can be found there as … Continue reading 7 Things You Should Know About the Kuiper Belt → Continue reading →

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Big Bang, Small Seconds

Posted on March 28, 2016 by hallesolar

Most of us have an awareness of the basic concept of the Big Bang Theory from a very young age. I am not referring to the CBS show, but I suppose children learn about that fairly young nowadays as well. Anyway, although I’ve always had a basic understanding of what the Big Bang Theory entails, […] Continue reading →

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A Vacation on Venus?

Posted on March 15, 2016 by harperastronomyblog

I was recently reading a book in which humanity had terraformed all of the Terrestrial planets (and also some gas giant moons) in the solar system, and it got me thinking: could humanity ever actually terraform a planet. And if so, which planet? After researching this question, Venus seems the most likely candidate for a […] Continue reading →

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The Largest Things in the Universe

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Alex Pratte

    While I was looking up random astronomy stuff, I came across an article that lists the top ten biggest things in the universe. Here are a few of the gigantic things that made the list: Biggest Star – VY Canis Majoris VY Canis Majoris is the largest star that we know of; it has […] Continue reading →

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