Tag Archives: earth

The Moon Illusion

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

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

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

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

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

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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The Evolution of Earth’s Atmosphere

So many of Earth’s features today, from our blue sky to life itself, depend on the atmosphere surrounding the planet, but it has taken billions of years to evolve to where it is today. This post will explore the evolution and progression of Earth’s atmosphere as well as the processes that led to these changes. […] Continue reading

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Blog Post 4 Chicxulub Impact

The Chicxulub Impact happened approximately 66 million years ago, defining the end of the Cretaceous Period and the beginning of the Paleocene, as well as the end of the Mesozoic Era and the beginning of the Cenozoic Era. This impact not only managed to eradicate the dinosaurs as the dominant lifeform on the planet but […] Continue reading

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Making our Earth

New findings by the AKARI space telescope, coupled with surface modeling at the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at Tokyo Institute of Technology present new evidence that the asteroid matter which composes Earth was located much further out in the solar system than initially thought. Their study involved computer modeling to develop reflective spectra of hypothetical […] Continue reading

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Blog Post 3 Creation and Composition of the Solar System

The creation of our planet, the Earth, was achieved by the forces of gravity over millions of years, melding together different rocks into a sphere. This process, known as accretion, let the Earth grow into the size it is today, with the help of Thea, a large planet that turned into our moon. These rocks […] Continue reading

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