Tag Archives: blog3

Stonehenge

Posted on February 15, 2016 by lawlorsolarsystem

The layout of Stonehenge has confounded historians and archaeologists for years, and they still do not entirely know why it is there. But historians have theorized that at least part of the layout has to do with astronomy. One of the stones, called the Heel Stone, is lined up exactly with the Sun on the […] Continue reading →

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Celestial NASCAR: Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion

Posted on February 15, 2016 by d51blog

Before 1609, the scientific consensus in Europe was that the planets orbited the Earth in perfect circles; even dissenting views such as Copernican heliocentricism relied upon perfect circles to guide objects around the Sun. Johannes Kepler, however, motivated by minute errors in planetary distances discovered when attempting to construct Copernicus’ model, revolutionized astronomy with his laws of […] Continue reading →

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Blog #3 James Webb Space Telescope

Posted on February 14, 2016 by seanmcsolsys

The flagship of the next generation telescopes launches in October 2018. The James Webb Space Telescope is an infrared telescope with its focus on the very first light from the Big Bang. With its 6.5 meter primary mirror and various cameras and spectrometers, the JWST will study the boundaries of the observable universe as well […] Continue reading →

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The Hubble Space Telescope

Posted on February 14, 2016 by martisnv

Until this past September when LIGO heard gravitational waves, our knowledge of the universe has come from visual observations. When Galileo began using his telescope in the early 1600s, our notion of the natural world completely evolved. Today, we have telescopes whose … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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The Tidal Forces

Posted on February 14, 2016 by alecsolarsystem

Tides are a well known and commonly occurring natural phenomenon that most people have witnessed. While many people just accept tides and don’t really think much about them, they are prime examples of how much of an impact other objects in our Solar System have on seemingly normal occurrences. The tides on a beach like […] Continue reading →

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The Gran Telescopio CANARIAS

Posted on February 13, 2016 by Chloe

When it comes to reflecting telescopes, bigger can mean better. The Gran Telescopio CANARIAS (GTC), located on the island of La Palma in the Canaries, Spain, is currently the largest single-aperture optical telescope in the world. Its primary mirror surface is made up of thirty-six hexagon segments; together these segments function as one primary mirror […] Continue reading →

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Newgrange, Archeoastronomy Before Stonehenge

Posted on February 13, 2016 by solarsystemjoe

Although Stonehenge is the most famous ancient astronomy site in Europe, it isn’t the oldest.  While Stonehenge was built around 3000 BCE, Newgrange, a tomb in Country Meath, Ireland, was built around  3200 BCE. At first glance, this tomb doesn’t seem to have much to do with astronomy; there is no telescope, nor is there a spire to […] Continue reading →

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Gravitational Waves Confirmed

Posted on February 11, 2016 by danielicopeland

Picture and Video Explaining Gravitational Waves Thursday February 11th 2016 was a monumental day for physics. Albert Einstein first theorized gravitational waves in 1916 as part of his theory of general relativity. Gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of the universe caused by massive cosmic events, such as the collision of black holes. These ripples […] Continue reading →

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The Center of the Universe

Posted on February 10, 2016 by jasperluastronomy

While reading the textbook, I found it very disappointing just how close the Greeks were to figuring out that Earth was not the center of the universe. Had they not been fooled by looking for parallax, they would have been led to the right conclusion that the Earth orbits the sun, rather than that everything […] Continue reading →

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The Archeoastronomy of Teotihuacán

Posted on February 9, 2016 by HB

Teotihuacán was a prominent ancient Mesoamerican city located in the Mexican highlands. Its legacy inspires civilians and scholars alike. Its stunning architecture, well-preserved art, and obvious influence over a greater area have made it one of the most studied archeological sites in Mexico. Another thing that interests many about Teotihuacán is the layout and construction … Continue reading The Archeoastronomy of Teotihuacán → Continue reading →

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