Tag Archives: blog8

ExploreMoons

Jupiter has a total of 53 named moons. That is more than any other planet in our solar system. The four largest moons ( Io, Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede) are called the Galilean Satellites. They were named after the astronomer Galileo who first discovered them. These four each have distinct characteristics that distinguish them fromContinue reading “ExploreMoons” Continue reading

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Moons are Cool!

One thing that I think is going to stick with me the most is how cools moons are. Entering this class all I knew was our moon, and although that’s our girl, been here since day one, she’s pretty basic (no offense Luna, I still love you). So, I though all moons were like her, […] Continue reading

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Where are they?

The likelihood of life outside of our planet is a heavily debated topic.  Overall, it seems reasonable to assume that with all of the unexplored universe around us, and the conditions required to sustain life that are not all that hard to find, there should be plenty examples of life elsewhere.  Despite this, and the overwhelming beliefContinue reading “Where are they?” Continue reading

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Blog 8: My Newly Formed Perspective

It’s weird to think about how this will be the final assignment for our astronomy class. Throughout the semester, my understanding of the vast universe we exist in has deepened, further changing my perspective of our world and humanity’s role within it. In this class, we studied the basic processes of the universe, from itsContinue reading “Blog 8: My Newly Formed Perspective” Continue reading

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Microlensing

Here’s a way to detect exoplanets you may have not heard of before! Microlensing is a technique that looks at how light is bent in the gravitational field surrounding a planetary system passing its star. The refraction creates “distorted, multiple, and/or brightened images.” All of these images are combined into one image. This image’s brightnessContinue reading “Microlensing” Continue reading

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All about Aurora

The Northern Lights are one of the most intriguing phenomena of the natural world, and have been attributed to many different things throughout history. The name itself comes from Galileo, who names them after the Roman goddess Aurora, who in Greek was known as Eos and described as rosy-fingered. Many cultures have their own interpretationsContinue reading “All about Aurora” Continue reading

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Looking Back Over This Semester

I’ll begin this post by warning that it’s going to be a rather frank conversation about some mental health stuff. Nothing concerning or whatever, but I thought I’d put that out front.  Throughout this semester, I have struggled with my mental health. For me, this is mostly in the form of OCD, particularly obsessive thoughtContinue reading “Looking Back Over This Semester” Continue reading

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Space Exploration: History, Ethics, and Potentially-Conflicting Interests

But why, some say the Moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountian [sic]? Why – 35 years ago – why fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the Moon, we choose to go to the Moon in this decadeContinue reading “Space Exploration: History, Ethics, and Potentially-Conflicting Interests” Continue reading

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Culmination Reflection Post

After taking Astronomy 2110, not only has my perspective of our Solar System changed and widened, but also did my view on the universe as a whole. Perhaps one of the biggest eye-openers for me came near the beginning of the semester when we learned just how vast our Universe is as a whole. BeforeContinue reading “Culmination Reflection Post” Continue reading

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Aliens in Pop Culture

Picture an alien. What did you think it looked like? Maybe you thought of a small green creature with a big head and big eyes, or maybe you thought of ET or one of the people from Avatar or Jar Jar Binks. No matter what you thought of, your picture was likely influenced by popContinue reading “Aliens in Pop Culture” Continue reading

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