Tag Archives: astro201

A Different Kind Vacation

Posted on March 17, 2014 by hindsolar

During several of our classes we have taken time to watch videos and view pictures of aurora. All that kept going through my head was where I can go to see this and this would be great for a vacation. I found a Huffington Post article about aurora. In it the writer states that the […] Continue reading →

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Distant but Deadly

Posted on March 17, 2014 by hindsolar

93 million miles away there is a threat that can have a huge impact on us. The threat is a solar storm which charged particles erupt from the sun. These particles can create electrical currents that seep into the magnetosphere. The effects of this are huge. GPS systems will be thrown off, people will be […] Continue reading →

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Orion Nebula

Posted on March 17, 2014 by karapetros

Nebulae have always been one of my favorite parts of the universe. I like how this video goes into detail about what makes up the Orion Nebula. It’s so hard to believe that we have the technology to discover so much about something so far away. It’s hard to imagine that the four main stars … Continue reading Orion Nebula → Continue reading →

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The Moon Rock Thief

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Leigh

Thad Roberts was accepted into NASA’s “Co-op” program for aspiring astronauts in 2001, where he became known as a risk-taker and rule-breaker. There are 842 pounds of moon rocks held by NASA, some of which were in Dr. Everett Gibson’s … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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The Sun: Our Source of Light

Posted on March 17, 2014 by kaswat

Our Sun is massive! It is 333,000 times the Earth’s mass. It provides all the light and other energy we need to survive – which is pretty impressive within itself.  The sun is made mostly of helium and hydrogen and exists as plasma instead of a solid. But, what makes the sun shine? Some people… Continue reading →

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Reversing Mars

Posted on March 17, 2014 by thomasridgway

We’ve all at one time or another thought about how fantastic it would be to inhabit another planet and to …

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Aurora

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Leigh

The Aurora, both Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis, is an incredibly beautiful phenomenon that is the result of important characteristics of our planet and its atmosphere. It is actually a result of electrically charged particles from the sun entering our … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Formation of the Solar System

Posted on March 17, 2014 by karapetros

I have always been a fan of Stephen Hawking. In this video, he does a great job of explaining the formation of the solar system beginning with the origins of the universe. From the Big Bang and how the explosion of an ancient star spread out all the elements generated from its life and death … Continue reading Formation of the Solar System → Continue reading →

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Things You Didn’t Know You Didn’t Know: Bismuth Edition

Posted on March 17, 2014 by claremcdaniel

Bismuth, a very neat looking little element, is one of those things in life that went largely unrecognized for a long time, until the world wised up and started to take notice. I like that, because it means bismuth was … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Why did the other planets get cool names but not us?

Posted on March 17, 2014 by reidrcreviston

If you start naming of the planets you will realize that they all have something in common except for one of the planets.  That planet is actually our very own Earth.  The rest of the planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) are all named after a Greek  or Roman God or Goddess.  Earth […] Continue reading →

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