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Tag Archives: astro201
Tennessee will be treated to a total eclipse in 2017
Due to the constant nature of the laws of physics, scientists can predict future eclipses with remarkable accuracy. These events are caused by the moon partially or (more rarely) totally obscuring the Sun’s path to the Earth. During solar eclipses we are able to see the Sun’s outermost halo, called the corona, which is usually […]
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Posted in Class, Observables
Tagged astro201, blog2, eclipses
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Just how small… or big… am I?
The Known Universe This video really puts into perspective the true size of the observable universe. Some say this makes us insignificant, but I disagree. I think that our ability to map the nature of the universe to such an extent makes us quite significant! Realize that everything we know about the universe came solely from…
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The scale of supermassive black holes is mind boggling!
Crazy black hole video! They say learning about astronomy is a great way to feel insignificant, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the study of supermassive black holes. The amount of matter contained within these beasts is impossible to comprehend without visual aids. The black hole in the center of the Phoenix cluster […]
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Posted in Class, Universe
Tagged astro201, blackholes, blog1
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Want to know your real sign?
Cosmo magazine may be giving the cosmos the best PR around, thanks to the back of their magazine. Every Cosmopolitan has a section near the back dedicated to the astrological horizon- i.e., horoscopes. Whether we think it’s a sham or not, it’s fun to read about what the month will supposedly hold according to the […]
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Faster than the Speed of Light
In summer of 2013, the New York Times published an article about NASA’s (then) newest project. Physicists and engineers were trying to determine whether “warp drive” might one day be possible. Warp drive, for those of you who are not Trekkies, is traveling faster than the speed of light or 3.0 x 10^5 km/s, and thus far […]
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Posted in Instruments, Light, Space Travel
Tagged astro201, blog1, speedoflight, upupandaway
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Blog Post #2: What’s up with harvest moons?
When the moon seems to be bigger than usual and have an orange tint, we call it “The Harvest Moon”. …
Blog #1: The Cosmic Calendar
After a particularly tough day or week, people can often be heard grumbling that “it has been such a long day/week.” I definitely fall victim to this habit and have always been fascinated by the fact that a specific amount of time can seem to pass by at different rates depending on the situation. How […]
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Posted in Class
Tagged astro201, blog1, cosmiccalendar, Time
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Precession and its Effects (And Why You Shouldn’t Be Afraid)
Axial precession is the gradual wobble that alters the orientation of Earth’s axis in space. Historically, discovery of this phenomenon was attributed to Greek astronomer Hipparchus. The axis traces out the path of a cone over a 26,000 year cycle. When I first read about this concept, I imagined Earth becoming like Westeros and experiencing […]
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Posted in Class, Observables
Tagged astro201, blog2, celestialpoles, precession, solstice, Time
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The oldest recorded solar eclipse!
After talking about solar eclipses in class yesterday, I got super nerd-ily excited about reading more about them! A quick wikipedia search (since that is totally acceptable and awesome!) links to tons more wikipedia pages that list the exact date, time, type, location, and path width, among other details. The oldest recorded one listed on […]
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The oldest recorded solar eclipse!
After talking about solar eclipses in class yesterday, I got super nerd-ily excited about reading more about them! A quick wikipedia search (since that is totally acceptable and awesome!) links to tons more wikipedia pages that list the exact date, time, type, location, and path width, among other details. The oldest recorded one listed on […] Continue reading