Tag Archives: astro201

Could Titan hold life?

Posted on April 9, 2014 by kaswat

A joint mission with the NASA and ESA called Titan Saturn System Mission (TSSM) will explore Titan’s surface more in depth. It will allow us to see if the liquid-water features have allowed life to form on Titan. If there were life, it would obviously have to be adapted to the -180⁰C surface temperature and… Continue reading →

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The Biggest Astronomical Question of Our Generation

Posted on April 9, 2014 by kaswat

Why is Pluto not a planet anymore? I mean, seriously? It makes us have to do things like rewrite textbooks and change our mnemonic devices.  What if we never find out the end of “My Very Earthly Mother Just Served Us Nine____”. Nine, what?!  Anyway, the bigger point here is what exactly defines a planet.… Continue reading →

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Planetary System

Posted on April 9, 2014 by mariah0407

It amazes me how small Earth is.  I find it difficult to comprehend even the size of Earth alone.  Flying to other continents can take days.  Then I look at a scale model like the one below and I realize how small we are in comparison to the rest of the planets.  Jupiter and Saturn are […] Continue reading →

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Neptune

Posted on April 9, 2014 by mariah0407

When I was in elementary school, I had to do a project on a planet.  I chose Neptune!  I spent hours coming up with a presentation and making a model.  Sadly, I don’t remember a lot from that presentation, but I’ve decided to brush up on my knowledge.  Neptune is a bright blue color and has […] Continue reading →

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A TITANIC COLLISION…but not really

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Asad Pabani

Collision: col·li·sion (kəˈliZHən) – noun: an instance of one moving object or person striking violently against another. Now imagine the outcome of a collision between Andromeda and the Milky Way which, according to the dictionary definition, should be a violent impact between two massive galaxies with millions of stars hurtling towards each other 2000 times faster than a […] Continue reading →

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Schwarzschild Radii and You

Posted on April 9, 2014 by zkorman

So what is a Schwarzschild radius? And is it a concept that is dangerous for us? First of all, the second question is silly: nearly every concept in astronomy and/or physics has implications or applications that are dangerous to us. So we’ll ignore that one. Second of all, the Schwarzschild radius is a property of a given … Continue reading Schwarzschild Radii and You → Continue reading →

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The Curious Case of the Two-Tailed Comet

Posted on April 9, 2014 by zkorman

We’ve all pictured it in our heads: a comet, whizzing through the solar system, leaving behind a long, bright, stunning tail showing where it’s been and implying its prograde (forward) velocity direction. I used to think this was the case too. and then I learned later in life that a comet’s tail is only visible … Continue reading The Curious Case of the Two-Tailed Comet → Continue reading →

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The definition of “planet”

Posted on April 8, 2014 by Drew Hamilton

Ever since the IAU gathered in Prague in 2006 and published a new scientific definition of “planet”, there has been debate on how well they did, and whether they were right to “demote” Pluto from planet to the new “dwarf planet” classification. I aim here to critique the IAU’s definition of a planet. First, here… Continue reading →

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Almost Hit by a Meteorite

Posted on April 8, 2014 by Chad F

In the video above, a skydiver was almost hit by a meteorite falling through Earth’s atmosphere.  There is only one person in recorded history, Ann Hodges from Alabama in 1954, to ever be hit by a meteorite and that was off of a bounce.  With all of the people that have lived throughout human history, you have a better chance of […] Continue reading →

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Mining in Space

Posted on April 8, 2014 by colepospisil

Whenever one thinks about mining in space, the image that is likely to come to mind is of drilling an asteroid made of solid gold. However, this is unlikely to be how this process will ever occur. That is partially because the value of the resources that one would receive from them would overcome the […] Continue reading →

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