Tag Archives: blog3

Galileo: A Man with No Last Name

Posted on February 19, 2013 by mirandaskunz

I have always wondered why we always refer to Galileo by his first name. We don’t have Johannes’ laws of planetary motion or Albert’s theory of relativity, but Galileo Galilei is just Galileo. I remember learning in elementary school that people are referred to by their last names as a sign of respect. Certainly, the […] Continue reading →

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The Mystery of Saturn’s Moonlets

Posted on February 19, 2013 by jacob933

Research done by Loughborough University physicists has recently led to new a understanding  of the formation of moonlets (small natural satellites) in Saturn’s F Ring. Previously, it was believed that strong tidal forces from Saturn and its other rings and moons would keep the moonlets from clumping. They’ve now discovered the moon Prometheus has a […] Continue reading →

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The Doppler Effect

Posted on February 19, 2013 by williamrmccormick

The Doppler effect is pretty amazing, in part because it both contradicts what one would naturally think and yet still makes perfect sense when you take the time to think about how we visualize the world. I say this because if you had never heard of the Doppler effect before, you would probably call me […] Continue reading →

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Types of Light

Posted on February 18, 2013 by ndtidol

The electromagnetic spectrum consists of radio waves, microwaves, infrared waves, visible light waves, ultraviolet waves, X-rays, and gamma rays. Of these seven types, humans can only sense visible light waves, […] Continue reading →

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Clear Path to the Stars

Posted on February 18, 2013 by a2megal

In class we talked about the different types of telescopes and the different shortcomings of reflecting versus refracting telescopes. In all though, a challenge that all types of ground-based telescopes face is the interference caused by Earth’s atmosphere. This interference causes distortion of EM waves coming through the atmosphere from outer space. The bending of […] Continue reading →

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HINS-Light > Purell?

Posted on February 18, 2013 by burnspress

Spectroscopy refers to the interactions between matter and light, or radiated energy, and the dispersion of an object’s light into its various wavelengths (i.e. colors). Dissecting an object’s light through spectroscopy helps modern astronomers determine the physical properties of stars. However, the study of light aids more than just astronomers in scientific battles today. New […] Continue reading →

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About Tides

Posted on February 18, 2013 by gerretyc

Upon beginning this course, I knew that the tides had something to do with the Moon and gravity, but I really didn’t understand exactly what was occurring.  I was under […] Continue reading →

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James Webb Space Telescope

Posted on February 18, 2013 by juliettealper

universetoday.com The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is Hubble’s successor. As impressive and useful as Hubble was, it will eventually stop working and spin out of it’s orbit. That is why the JWST is being made. It will be better and more advanced than Hubble, allowing scientists to view infrared light. JWST will study four […] Continue reading →

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The Hubble Telescope

Posted on February 18, 2013 by williamcpower

After reading about the power of different telescopes, I became interested in learning more about the famous Hubble Telescope. I found a video that explains some of the telescope’s mechanics and I think it’s worth the watch. What is really fascinating is the sensitivity the Hubble Telescope has. It can detect a candle from Tokyo from […] Continue reading →

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Navigation by the Stars

Posted on February 18, 2013 by jhughes216

History Before the time of GPS devices, navigation apps, and even before the Earth was known to be round, humans were using the heavens to find their way around this hardly discovered planet. While land navigation could be made fairly easy by dead reckoning and using landmarks, this technique became infinitely more difficult once humans began […] Continue reading →

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