Tag Archives: blog10

A Grim Future, Brightened by the Stars

For my culminating post, I want to reflect on how my perspective on space and the future of astronomy has changed over the course of Astronomy 201. Firstly, everything I learned in this course, from gravity and planetary formation to stars and habitable zones, has given me a fundamental and scientifically realistic understanding of space […] Continue reading

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My Universe

My Universe has changed throughout this course. I used to think that we were fully alone on Earth, and that there was simply no way that another civilization could exist besides our own. Now I realize that life outside of our own world is much more likely than I would have believed. It is interesting […] Continue reading

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The Final Frontier

We live quite cozily on our happy little planet we call Earth. Our own solar system has 8 planets including Earth, and 613,152 confirmed minor planets. Our best estimates say that the Milky Way galaxy has anywhere from 100 to 400 billion other stars in it, most of which have planets around them. To put […] Continue reading

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A Semester in Review

My interest in astronomy stems from the pleasure I get just looking out at the stars, trying to find constellations and contemplating the vastness of the universe. Throughout this semester, however, I have learned that astronomy is so much more than just looking at stars. There are so many factors to consider in astronomy, from […] Continue reading

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A Humbling Experience

The picture that I have attached above aptly describes what my time in the class has made me feel.  Prior to Astro 201, I had very little knowledge about the workings of our Universe.  And while I’m not saying that a single 200-level course has made me anything even resembling an expert, I feel that […] Continue reading

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In Conclusion…

  As the semester comes to a close and my first semester taking an astronomy class ends on Monday, I can say that I was not expecting to learn half of the topics we read about. I’m just completed confounded by all the information that we learned about our Universe and our solar system. From […] Continue reading

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Optimistic Astronomy

I have always been interested in Astronomy and the concept that Earth is only a very small part of the rest of the Universe. After learning all of the in depth detail about planet formation, moon cycles, the physics behind it all, and the rest of the topics we covered in class- I have gotten […] Continue reading

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Terrestrial Planets around Metal Poor Stars?

In our book, we learned that it is unlikely for planets to form around a star that is deficient in heavy metals.  In order to form terrestrial planets, you need a second-generation star to form from the nebular ashes of another star that produced heavy elements in its final moments. However, new research from studying […] Continue reading

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My Favorite Parts of the Semester

I learned a lot about the universe in this class, but what really stuck out at me throughout the semester was how principles that I had previously learned in physics are used to discover new planets or what they’re made of. For example, I learned about the Doppler Effect in my 7th grade science class […] Continue reading

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The Perks of Infinity

The good thing about the universe is that there a lot of things. It has got something for everybody. Take a look at these artworks: What I ultimately learned from this course was that, somewhere out there, these places have to exist. They better do. Image and Image and Image and Image and Image and […] Continue reading

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