Tag Archives: earth

aurorae

Posted on April 7, 2023 by Emma Williams

The shimmering curtains of color that make up the Northern Lights are incredibly fascinating. For many (myself included), it is a life goal to get to witness this phenomenon in person. The name Aurora Borealis has its roots in classical mythology. Famous astronomer Galileo Galilei combined the Roman goddess of the dawn, Aurora, with the […] Continue reading →

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The Diversity of Terrestrial World Atmospheres: Venus, Mars and Earth

Posted on March 8, 2023 by theyounesadventure

Terrestrial planets’ atmospheres, including those of Venus, Earth, and Mars, are crucial to their general behavior and possible habitability. Many elements, including the planet’s distance from the sun, the makeup of its surface, and the presence of geological activity, all impact these atmospheres. The atmospheres of terrestrial worlds display a startling variation in behavior and […] Continue reading →

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The Atmosphere as we know it

Posted on March 7, 2023 by cuia2

The atmosphere is split into four different layers: the troposphere, the stratosphere, the thermosphere, and the exosphere. The troposphere is the lowest layer and is where greenhouse gasses absorb the infrared light and where storms occur. The stratosphere absorbs solar ultraviolet light by ozone, Earth is the only planet to have this layer. The thermosphere […] Continue reading →

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Earth and Us

Posted on March 5, 2023 by cuia2

I’ve always wondered how rare it is for Earth to exist and support life on it, and now I know that out of the billions of solar systems, Earth is the only planet we know of to support life on it currently. Earth had to be at just the right distance from the Sun for […] Continue reading →

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The Moon Illusion

Posted on March 5, 2023 by sydneyastr2110

We saw a really cool picture of the Moon during class that was taken when it was near the horizon with an ancient Greek temple in front of it. The Moon looked unusually large, and I wanted to know more. The reason for the Moon appearing much larger when it is rising and setting is […] Continue reading →

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All About Aurorae

Posted on March 5, 2023 by 7smessier45

As the title suggests, our topic for today is Earth’s aurorae (pronounced auh-ror-eye). These stunning displays generally occur in two symmetrical oval rings about the planet’s far northern and southern regions–Earth’s magnetic north and south poles. When they happen in the north, aurorae are often referred to as the northern lights or Aurora Borealis. Likewise, […] Continue reading →

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climate change

Posted on March 1, 2023 by Emma Williams

It’s no secret that our planet is in the midst of a global climate crisis– rising sea levels, compounding greenhouse gas emissions, and depleting natural resources have left our environment at a very real risk of collapse, endangering all living creatures on our planet. When studying astronomy, it becomes easy to lose focus on the […] Continue reading →

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An Explanation of Tides

Posted on February 11, 2023 by sydneyastr2110

The short tide video we saw in class made me curious about tides. I looked into the relationship between the tides and the Moon, similar to what we had to do at the end of Homework 4. I wanted to share some of my findings. Both the Moon and Sun contribute to tides on Earth. […] Continue reading →

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The Upcoming Total Solar Eclipse

Posted on January 20, 2023 by sydneyastr2110

One year, two months, and eighteen days: this is the time from the writing of this blog until a total solar eclipse will occur in North America. I’ll save you from doing the math, the date of this solar eclipse is April 8, 2024. The sky along the path of totality will become dark for […] Continue reading →

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Blog Post 7: Drake Equation Odds

Posted on May 1, 2022 by isaachuggins

The Drake Equation is an equation used to determine the odds of communicating with another alien civilization. Created by Frank Drake in the 1961, it was a product of all of the odds of life forming, planets having suitable habitats, and how successful the life was on the planet. The first value was R, or […] Continue reading →

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