Like many of you I was very excited to see the solar eclipse today. I thought about driving to see totality, but ended up choosing against it as I figured it would be too much, and I had a quiz the morning of. So, I decided to stick around campus and watch it from here. Aaaaaaaaaaand it was underwhelming. It was just way too cloudy to see it consistently. We only got brief glimpses at it. I was able to snap this photo just before it went back behind the clouds. I’m hoping others who went to the area of totality got to see it better. I remember the one in 2017, I was also very close to totality then. It was a really cool experience since there were no clouds in the sky. The coolest thing I remember was that all the leaves made crescent shaped shadows on the ground which made a really cool effect.
For my blog post I wanted to focus on comets. I figured I would do some research on the only comet I knew by name before taking astronomy, Halley’s Comet. Halley is the most famous of its kind and its presence in our history goes back more than 1000 years. Halley was last seen in 1986 and won’t be back until 2061. Edmond Halley, after whom the comet is named, used Newton’s theories to predict the return of the comet based on observations made as far back as 1531 1607 and 1682. In 1758 Halley’s predictions came true and the comet returned. The comet was significant to human history long before Halley named it. It appears in the Bayeux tapestry, a depiction of the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Scientists predict that Halley has been in its current orbit for about 16,000 years. Halley does more than just come by Earth’s view every so often, it is actually responsible for two meteor showers every year. Eta Aquarids in May and the Orionids in October are the result of Halley shedding ice and rock into the inner solar system.
Today was the day, I saw the eclipse. It was amazing, and truly a piece of art. There were lots of clouds and I was barely able to see the eclipse although when seeing it, it was eye burning. Literally. As I had no glasses, I took a video of it that I am very glad to share on this blog. It is not very visible due to clouds, but it is seeable. The vision of the eclipse made me think of the cloudy nebula that we observed for the observing assignment. It was really great, and I wish I would’ve seen the total eclipse. I also read an article the other day on solar eclipses and that animals act unusually weird during this time, and I want to know why as well.You are also able to see the corona of the sun (plasma) as it isn’t viewable during regular times of non-eclipses.
In honor of the partial solar eclipse we got to briefly see in Nashville on Monday, I wanted to explore some of the interesting history of eclipses.
The first known recording of an eclipse was from November 30th in 3340 BCE in Ireland. This discovery was based on “overlapping circular rock carvings, called petroglyphs”. These petroglyphs depict the moon obstructing the sun’s light. Astronomical calculations confirms that there should have been a visible solar eclipse on November 30th, 3340 BCE. While this was an amazing discovery, the history is unclear and perhaps morbid. Around 50 people’s charred human remains were found in front of the petroglyphs. Some believe that these remains are evidence of human sacrifices involved in ritual. Others believe that these remains found in the structure means that it was a burial site of high status individuals.
There is little agreement over whether this site featured evidence of human sacrafice or even if the art itself depicted a solar eclipse. While astronomical calculations led researchers to believe that there was genuinely a solar eclipse in 3340 BCE, critical researchers point out that the earth’s rate of rotation fluctuates over time, enough to make calculating the time of full totality thousands of years in the past incredibly difficult. This debate seems to be one that will never fully end without more evidence but there is no doubt that humans have been fascinated by the cosmos since the earliest of times.
This is my picture of the solar eclipse from today. The fact that eclipses even happen is one of the craziest coincidences, as the difference in relative size of the Moon and the Sun is the same percentage-wise, meaning that when the Moon is exactly in front of the Sun, it completely blocks it. There has been significant religious, social, and political change as a result of eclipses and their prediction. This is for two reasons. First, the Sun was significant for agrarian civilizations because of its role in crop development, so it being blocked out seemed to be a negative sign that something was wrong. Second, because total eclipses that are visible very rarely happen multiple times within a single lifetime, meaning that without a concrete written record, civilizations were thrown off and unprepared for eclipses.
The eclipse in Nashville started around 12:45pm, and reached its maximum at 2:03pm. To be honest, it was super underwhelming, as it did not get as dark as I thought it would. I am pretty spoiled, though, as I was in Nashville for the total eclipse in 2017, which got significantly darker and was more visible at partial eclipse, as it was a clear day.
All of today prior to the eclipse, I had been thinking about what it would have been like to have no idea that the eclipse was coming, especially if I did not have any understanding of what eclipses were. While today’s eclipse was underwhelming, I definitely would have been surprised by how dark it got suddenly in the middle of the day, but I would have just assumed that it was about to storm hard given the cloud coverage. Did you see the eclipse? Leave a comment if you did, and if you got any better pictures than the one that I took.
Pluto orbits our Sun far out past Neptune, and has been the source of controversy as we have learned more about it. The argument centers around whether this celestial object should be defined as a planet or a dwarf planet. This leads to an even bigger question: what separates a dwarf planet from a planet?
Simply put, a celestial object must meet three requirements in order to be considered a planet: it must orbit a star, be massive enough to force itself into a sphere, and must have enough mass to clear out a path on its orbit because of its gravitational pull. Under this definition, Pluto seems to meet the requirements for planet-hood, and from 1930 to 2006, it was acknowledged as the ninth planet in the Solar System. As telescoping technology improved, however, the Kuiper Belt, a collection of smaller objects orbiting past the path of Neptune, was discovered. Along with it, Eris was discovered, and some argued that it met the requirements to be a planet. This sparked debate about the nature of planets, and both Eris and Pluto were put into a new category, the dwarf planet.
The debate still rages as to whether Pluto should be included as a planet. Because the old definition, one that at times included the Sun and Moon, was so broad an unscientific, many thought that any major restriction on planethood based on an attempt to artificially restrict the amount of planets in our Solar System was arbitrary at best. Because Pluto exists in the region of the Kuiper belt, it does not fit the criterion that a planet must clear out objects in its orbit. This does not stop many from believing, however, that Pluto deserves all the recognition given any other planet in our Solar System. What do you think?
On Monday, April 8, 2024, North America witnessed a solar eclipse, and it almost blinded me. But before I talk about that, what is a solar eclipse?
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves between the Sun and the Earth, which blocks the Sun totally or partially and casts a shadow on part of the Earth. The cover image shows an example of the Moon completely covering the Sun. Below is a photo of the Sun being partially covered by the Moon (I took that one myself).
by me
To see a total solar eclipse, you have to be in the path of totality. The path of totality is the path the moon’s shadow takes as the Earth rotates. During that path, the Moon completely blocks all light from the Sun.
To safely observe an eclipse, it is advised to wear solar eclipse glasses that follow ISO 12312-2 Requirements. Here they are below:
Unfortunately, all the solar eclipse glasses near me were all sold out. And I mistakenly decided it wouldn’t be too bad if I looked at the Sun for 1 or 2 minutes. After I took my pictures and videos, I started to see black dots appear in my vision and my eyes started to hurt. As soon as that happened, I immediately closed my eyes and turned away from the Sun for a good 3-4 minutes. I thought I permanently damaged my eyes so I can look at the Sun for 2 minutes, but when I opened my eyes again the black dots went away and my eyes were no longer in pain.
If you love your eyes, then please don’t do what I did.
Things that break all patterns are often the most interesting objects in our solar system. Neptune’s moon Triton is a prime example of breaking general patterns. It is the only large moon in our solar system that orbits in retrograde, opposite the rotation of Neptune (NASA). Originally I was interested in Triton because of its irregular orbital path. Since it likely was a Kuiper Belt object that got pulled in by Neptune’s gravity, it will eventually crash into the surface of Neptune.
The interior of Triton is also extremely intriguing as it is likely a core of rock and metals. It is extremely dense, which leads scientists to believe it has more rock inside than the satellite moons of Saturn and Uranus (NASA). The high density of Triton and its unique orbit leads me to wonder what may occur when it eventually collides with Neptune. Will it destroy the planet or will it leave a large crater on the surface of Neptune?
A picture I took of the eclipse in Nashville at 1:53 PM CST on April 8, 2024.
Around 2 pm today on Apr 8, 2024, I was fortunate enough to see the eclipse reach its peak in Nashville amidst intermittent cloud cover. Although Nashville wasn’t in the path of totality like it was in 2017, it was very close!
For a quick background on solar eclipses, a solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes directly between the Sun and the Earth, and when the Moon completely blocks the sun, it is called a total solar eclipse. A partial eclipse, when the Moon only blocks a part of the Sun, occurred here in Nashville today! Additionally, an annular eclipse is a special type of partial eclipse when the Moon blocks the Sun but leaves a small ring around the edge.
Overall, seeing the eclipse was a fascinating experience and really offered a unique perspective on astronomical events. I hope you all had the chance to see it today too!
OSIRIS-REx was NASA’s mission to collect a sample from the asteroid Bennu. In September 2023, OSIRIS-REx returned to Earth to drop off material from Bennu. OSIRIS-REx continued on a new mission, OSIRIS-APEX. The objective of the new mission is to study Apophis, which the spacecraft will reach in 2029.
NASA lists 10 reasons why scientists wanted to study Bennu. Here a a few of them:
Bennu has been well preserved in the vacuum of space since the formation of the solar system. Bennu is a great asteroid to study to learn more about Earth’s formation.
Bennu might have clues about the origin of life! Through studying Bennu through telescopes (Earth and space based), we know that it is a carbon rich asteroid. This means that Bennu is probably rich in organic molecules. It also might have water!
It can help scientists learn more about the Yarkovsky effect. The Yarkovsky effect is a phenomenon that involves sunlight warming one side of an asteroid and then radiating off the asteroid as heat as the asteroid rotates. Since its discovery, Bennu’s orbit has drifted closer to the Sun by about 280 meters per year. The Yarkovsky effect might be to blame for this because the heat energy pushes Bennu towards the Sun. Studying the Yarkovsky effect can help scientists predict the movement of other asteroids.
Scientists estimated that Bennu could pass closer to Earth than the Moon in 2135 and then pass even closer from 2175 to 2195. Scientists in the next century can use data from OSIRIS-REx to come up with ways to deflect any asteroids that could hit Earth!
The risk of Bennu hitting Earth is very very low: 1 in 1,750 through the year 2300
