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Tag Archives: astr201
I will never know if the Earth was a fluke
I had taken Astronomy 201 because I was curious about humanity’s place in the universe. As a second semester senior, I didn’t need this class at all; I just wanted broaden my understanding of the world around me. Deep down, I also wanted form an educated opinion on the possibility of extraterrestrial life. It was hence […]
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To Go Boldly Where No (Hu)Man Has Gone Before: The Future of Space Exploration
In the 1960’s, Star Trek popularized the idea of outer space as the “final frontier”. However, exploration of space is about as final as the possible values between .99 and 1: the possibilities are limitless. Here are few of the most exciting forthcoming explorations of this infinite final frontier: NASA’s Journey to Mars– NASA plans … Continue reading To Go Boldly Where No (Hu)Man Has Gone Before: The Future of Space Exploration →
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Tagged astr201, blog10, finalfrontier
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To Go Boldly Where No (Hu)Man Has Gone Before: The Future of Space Exploration
In the 1960’s, Star Trek popularized the idea of outer space as the “final frontier”. However, exploration of space is about as final as the possible values between .99 and 1: the possibilities are limitless. Here are few of the most exciting forthcoming explorations of this infinite final frontier: NASA’s Journey to Mars– NASA plans … Continue reading To Go Boldly Where No (Hu)Man Has Gone Before: The Future of Space Exploration → Continue reading
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Tagged astr201, blog10, finalfrontier
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Are You There, Universe? It’s Me, Earth.
In 1974, to celebrate the remodeling of Puerto Rico’s Arecibo radio telescope, the Arecibo message was sent toward the globular star cluster M13 (located 25,000 light years away from our sun) through radio waves. The message was written by Dr. Francis Drake (of the Drake equation) and Carl Sagan, among others. Aimed at other civilized … Continue reading Are You There, Universe? It’s Me, Earth. →
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Tagged arecibomessage, astr201, blog9, extrasolarlife
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Planet Discovered with Four Parent Stars
Binary star systems, like the one featured in the Tatooine system of Star Wars are common in the universe with half of all systems being comprised that way. Ternary system, or systems with three stars, are more rare, and even more rare are quaternion systems. Planets within these four star systems are also rare, so much so […]
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Predicting Impact Events
In 1994, Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 created a large impact event on Jupiter, giving the scientific community a greater sense of urgency in detecting possible impact objects before they reached Earth. These efforts to detect near-Earth objects, known collectively as “Spaceguard”, have enjoyed both successes and failures. For example, in 2008, the Catalina Sky Survey discovered … Continue reading Predicting Impact Events →
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Predicting Impact Events
In 1994, Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 created a large impact event on Jupiter, giving the scientific community a greater sense of urgency in detecting possible impact objects before they reached Earth. These efforts to detect near-Earth objects, known collectively as “Spaceguard”, have enjoyed both successes and failures. For example, in 2008, the Catalina Sky Survey discovered … Continue reading Predicting Impact Events → Continue reading
Orbital Resonances: They Space Out the Solar System
In class we learned that the divisions in Saturn’s rings are caused by orbital resonance. Orbital resonance is a phenomenon in which “two orbiting bodies exert a regular, periodic gravitational influence on each other,” usually because their orbital periods “match up”. For instance, if particles were in Saturn’s Cassini division, they would orbit twice for … Continue reading Orbital Resonances: They Space Out the Solar System →
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Tagged astr201, blog7, orbitalresonance
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Orbital Resonances: They Space Out the Solar System
In class we learned that the divisions in Saturn’s rings are caused by orbital resonance. Orbital resonance is a phenomenon in which “two orbiting bodies exert a regular, periodic gravitational influence on each other,” usually because their orbital periods “match up”. For instance, if particles were in Saturn’s Cassini division, they would orbit twice for … Continue reading Orbital Resonances: They Space Out the Solar System → Continue reading
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Tagged astr201, blog7, orbitalresonance
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