Tag Archives: blog4

Circadian Rhythms and the Length of the Day

We learned in class that the earth’s day is always getting longer: that is, the attraction of the moon’s gravity pulls angular momentum from the earth, slowing down its rotation. On the flip side, the earth’s day used to be much shorter. Evidence from ancient corals indicate that the year was once 385 days long, meaning that … Continue reading Circadian Rhythms and the Length of the Day Continue reading

Posted in Class | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Circadian Rhythms and the Length of the Day

Circadian Rhythms and the Length of the Day

We learned in class that the earth’s day is always getting longer: that is, the attraction of the moon’s gravity pulls angular momentum from the earth, slowing down its rotation. On the flip side, the earth’s day used to be much shorter. Evidence from ancient corals indicate that the year was once 385 days long, meaning that … Continue reading Circadian Rhythms and the Length of the Day Continue reading

Posted in Class | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Circadian Rhythms and the Length of the Day

USA reliant on Russian rockets

Recently top officials in NASA and the military have brought to the forefront the unpleasant reality that the USA is only capable of launching small-to-medium size rockets into space with our own rockets. We rely on Russian-built rockets to launch heavy satellites, as well as shuttle astronauts to the ISS. Given the recent geopolitical climate, […] Continue reading

Posted in Class, Public Policy | Tagged , | Comments Off on USA reliant on Russian rockets

Blog Post #4: The Twilight Saga

If you’re like me, then the concept of “twilight” has recently become a little confusing. In class, twilight has been …

Continue reading

Continue reading

Posted in Class, Light, Sun | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Blog Post #4: The Twilight Saga

Weight is just a number!

picture from storejpg.com Weight IS just a number-it’s simply the product of the mass of an object and the force put on that object due to gravity!  Since the number is dependent on gravity, it’s totally logical that, since the force of gravity from the Sun is different in different locations in the Solar system […] Continue reading

Posted in Class, Instruments | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Weight is just a number!

What Comes After Hubble?

The Hubble Space Telescope, in use for about 25 years, will soon have to be retired in the next 5-10 years. Plans for a successor telescope eventually materialized into the James Webb Space Telescope, pictured below as a full scale model in Austin, TX. As big as a tennis court and as tall as a […] Continue reading

Posted in Instruments | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on What Comes After Hubble?

The Super-Saturn

Astronomers in the University of Rochester recently discovered a planet with a massive ring system that dwarfs Saturn’s rings. Exoplanet J1407b is a gas giant with 10 to 40 times the mass of Jupiter orbiting a 16-million year old star located 434 light years away. Scientists usually find and study exoplanets and stars when the […] Continue reading

Posted in Class, Exoplanets | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Super-Saturn

Jupiter’s Galilean Moons

Following our extensive discussion in class about the effects our Moon and the Earth have on each other (tides, speed of rotation) I became very curious about other planets and how they interact with their moons, specifically, Jupiter because it has a whopping 63 moons orbiting it. However, the main moons we ever really hear about […] Continue reading

Posted in Moons | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Jupiter’s Galilean Moons

The 12…wait, there’s 13?…Zodiac Signs

If you’re like me, you identify pretty deeply with your zodiac sign. Although I don’t believe that every word of my horoscope is necessarily true, I still like to think that I embody all the qualities of a Leo. In addition, it’s entertaining to read my horoscopes from time to time, even though they aren’t… Continue reading The 12…wait, there’s 13?…Zodiac Signs Continue reading

Posted in Class, Stars | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on The 12…wait, there’s 13?…Zodiac Signs

Is There Life On Other Planets?

Many people always think about aliens. The idea has always been thrown around and many people have had many different opinions on the subject. There have been pictures that cannot be explained of bright lights in the sky. This video contains pictures that have been speculated upon forever. Check out this video. At 2:40, 4:44,… Continue reading

Posted in Aliens, Class, Universe | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Is There Life On Other Planets?