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Tag Archives: blog8
Supermassive Black Holes
Astronomers have recently discovered a supermassive black hole in a region of space that is sparsely populated. The black hole is 17 billion times bigger than the Sun (by mass), making it one of the larger black holes ever discovered. The strange part is that scientists had only ever found supermassive black holes at the […] Continue reading
Posted in Galaxies, Universe
Tagged astro2110, Black Holes, blog8
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Kepler Concerns
One of NASA’s most prized space probes may be in need of some roadside assistance after a scheduled Thursday communication session revealed the craft has entered emergency mode. The Kepler spacecraft was launched in 2009 and is equipped with telescopes and instruments critical to the discovery and analysis of extrasolar planets. Little is known so […] Continue reading
Posted in Class, Space Travel, Universe
Tagged astro2110, blog8, space, spacecraft, Uncategorized
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Jupiter’s Galilean Moons
Discovered by Galileo in 1610, Jupiter’s four largest moons are some of the most interesting worlds in our Solar System. “Volcanic Io”: Jupiter’s inner-most moon, Io, is the fourth largest moon in the solar system. It is also the most volcanically-active object in the Solar System, with over 400 active volcanoes. Large mountains cover its […] Continue reading
Posted in Moons
Tagged astro2110, blog8, Callisto, Europa, Ganymede, Io, Solar System, Uncategorized
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Enceladus
One of Saturn’s many moons, Enceladus, has been peppered with eruptions. Underneath the icy surface, there is a probability of a global ocean, which makes it even more suspicious that it has developed these fissures on its surface, mainly on the south pole. The erupted particles take about forty minutes or so to reach the… Continue reading
Posted in Class, Moons, Space Travel
Tagged astro2110, blog8, enceladus, Solar System
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Blog 8 (Saturn’s Rings)
Saturn’s rings are one of the most fascinating subjects in astronomy for many people because they are one of the most visible examples of beauty in our Solar System. Interestingly enough, the other Jovian planets also have rings, but they are not nearly as conspicuous as the rings on Saturn are. What fascinated me when […] Continue reading
The Demise of Pluto
Left: Pluto Demoted, Right: Size Comparison The discovery of Pluto had scientists ecstatic. Far out in the distance was this tiny, freezing, icy planet with moons! Then it was official: Pluto must be added to the list of planets. It’s round, orbits the Sun and has a posse of moons, what more could we need? […] Continue reading
Posted in Historical, Observables
Tagged astro2110, blog8, pluto, Solar System, Uncategorized
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Titan’s Peaks
Mountains have always been a source of fascination for me. I climbed my first 14er, Mt. Yale (Elevation 14,199 ft.), when I was in middle school. Hopefully one day I can return to Colorado to climb more as well as many other mountains in this world. One of my favorite mountains is Mount Amiata in […] Continue reading
Why We Think Dark Matter Exists
Solely based on our experiences, we might be inclined to say that most of the universe is composed of “normal matter,” electrons, quarks and other subatomic particles. However, we have reason to believe that there are other kinds of matter in the universe, dark matter and dark energy. In fact, according to this pie […] Continue reading
Posted in Universe
Tagged astro2110, blog8, darkenergy, darkmatter
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Solar Sails
Currently, we do not have the technology to travel to even the closest stars. The fastest spacecraft humans have ever built is the Voyager 1, which is currently traveling at roughly 17 km/s. However, even at these speeds it would take the Voyager I nearly 70,000 years to get to the nearest star system, Alpha […] Continue reading
Posted in Light, Space Travel
Tagged astro2110, blog8, solar sail, Uncategorized, voyager
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Voyager Golden Record – Reading the Instructions
On my last unrestricted blog post, I began a series of posts on my favorite topic in astronomy: The Voyager Golden Record. If you missed that blog post you can check it out here. Basically, the golden record is a message in a bottle being cast into the cosmic ocean. It will go very far […] Continue reading