Tag Archives: blog6

Dust Devils on Mars

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Gabi Grys

  The ~spooky~ imagine below is not, as one may initially believe a charcoal sketch drawing of branches against the night sky (Just me? Okay). Instead, the image below shows tracks on the Martian surface from dust devils. Dust devils, strong whirlwinds comparable to tornadoes, leave beautiful dark lines and swirls on the Martian surface. […] Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Observables | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Dust Devils on Mars

Sun: Where do you see yourself in 5 billion years?

Posted on March 15, 2016 by samihahplanet

Currently, our nearest and dearest star is at the ripe middle age of about 4.5 billion years old. This means that the Sun is a “main sequence star,” so it converts the hydrogen in its core to helium. However, about 4 billion years from now, the Sun will being to transition to a red giant, […] Continue reading →

Posted in Stars, Sun | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Sun: Where do you see yourself in 5 billion years?

Sun: Where do you see yourself in 5 billion years?

Posted on March 15, 2016 by samihahplanet

Currently, our nearest and dearest star is at the ripe middle age of about 4.5 billion years old. This means that the Sun is a “main sequence star,” so it converts the hydrogen in its core to helium. However, about 4 billion years from now, the Sun will being to transition to a red giant, […] Continue reading →

Posted in Stars, Sun | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Sun: Where do you see yourself in 5 billion years?

When the Sun Shows Off

Posted on March 15, 2016 by evinske

  There’s a spectacular light show every year at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. The grand venue boasts thousands and thousands of lights each year around Christmas. Yet, you don’t have to find a $30 parking spot at a debatably overrated hotel to see a grand, sparkling event. In fact, there’s a place giving […] Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Light, Observables, Sun | Tagged , , | Comments Off on When the Sun Shows Off

A Vacation on Venus?

Posted on March 15, 2016 by harperastronomyblog

I was recently reading a book in which humanity had terraformed all of the Terrestrial planets (and also some gas giant moons) in the solar system, and it got me thinking: could humanity ever actually terraform a planet. And if so, which planet? After researching this question, Venus seems the most likely candidate for a […] Continue reading →

Posted in Science, Universe | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on A Vacation on Venus?

UY Scuti

Posted on March 15, 2016 by chasejaeger

The size of the Sun is difficult to comprehend. With a diameter of 865,000 miles, The Sun has the volume of 1.3 million Earths. If we were to place the Earth next to the Sun, we would simply see a tiny spec next to the Sun. However, the Sun is not even close to the […] Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Stars | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on UY Scuti

What’s eating at Pluto?

Posted on March 15, 2016 by segalastronomyblog

What’s going on under the surface of pluto? The New Horizons probe passed Pluto just last year, after a nine year journey to the Kuiper Belt. Over the last few months, images from the probe have been being received back here on Earth. These images are the most high quality photos of Pluto we have ever […] Continue reading →

Posted in Observables, Space Travel | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on What’s eating at Pluto?

The Largest Things in the Universe

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Alex Pratte

    While I was looking up random astronomy stuff, I came across an article that lists the top ten biggest things in the universe. Here are a few of the gigantic things that made the list: Biggest Star – VY Canis Majoris VY Canis Majoris is the largest star that we know of; it has […] Continue reading →

Posted in General, Science, Universe | Tagged , | Comments Off on The Largest Things in the Universe

Spaghettification

Posted on March 15, 2016 by OscarBen

The event horizon of a black hole is the point of no return. When an object gets close to this event horizon, extreme tidal forces from the black hole create a gravitational field that is so strong it begins to compress objects into long, thin shapes, like spaghetti. These are the same tidal forces we’ve discussed… More Spaghettification Continue reading →

Posted in Physics | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Spaghettification

NASA’s Solar Probe Plus

Posted on March 15, 2016 by solarsystemjoe

By 2018, NASA will launch the Solar Probe Plus.  This probe will get within 9 solar radii of the surface of the Sun.  That distance is 7 times closer than any probe has ever been.  A portion of the probe will have to remain cool and the rest of it will have to be as […] Continue reading →

Posted in Sun | Tagged , , | Comments Off on NASA’s Solar Probe Plus