Tag Archives: history

The moon’s origin

Earth’s moon is unique for several reasons. Earth’s moon relevant to its planet’s size, Earth is the largest in our solar system and that fact has drawn my curiosity to the subject of the moon’s origins and what makes it so unique. It is speculated that the moon originated when another terrestrial planet, Theia crashed […] Continue reading

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Hypatia of Alexandria

Hypatia of Alexandria (335 CE – 415 CE) was an important mathematician and astronomer often credited as the first female astronomer and the last head librarian of the Library of Alexandria. Her father, Theos, was also an astronomer and mathematician and was the last official member of the Library of Alexandria. He also played a […] Continue reading

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Retrograde motion

Like the ancients Greeks, I also had some trouble understanding retrograde motion and how it’s possible that it might seem that some objects in the sky move in reverse motion. Instead of rising in the east and setting in the west, it appears that some objects move in reverse from west to east for a […] Continue reading

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homework #2

Historical Astronomers in Context by Grace
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The Blood Moon: Cultural Significance

The phenomena that is called a “blood moon” occurs during a lunar eclipse, when the Earth blocks the path of sunlight heading towards the moon. This causes the Earth to cast its shadow over the moon. However, the reddish tint that appears during a blood moon occurs because of refracted sunlight by Earth’s atmosphere. Throughout […] Continue reading

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The End of an Era

Sadly, this will be the last post of the solarblogdotcom. Through out theses posts we have explored many of the amazingly interesting topics of the solar system. Although the picture above shows the Galaxy, It is still a great photo to end on, because you never truly know whats out there until you look forContinue reading “The End of an Era” Continue reading

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Drake Equation

The Drake equation is an equation that helps find out the possibility of alien civilizations. As shown above the N represents the number of civilizations with advanced technology through out the milky way. The equation is particularly interesting because depending on the person, you can find out if the person is a pessimist or anContinue reading “Drake Equation” Continue reading

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Galaxies

Galaxies are cosmic Islands of stars, gas, dust and dark matter. They span across very long distances and they are held together by gravity. There are multiple types of Galaxies as shown in the the photo above. The word galaxy is derived from the greek word “galaxias”. It means milky, which is a direct referenceContinue reading “Galaxies” Continue reading

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Kuiper Belt Objects

The Kuiper Belt is a region in the solar system beyond the orbit of Neptune as shown in the photo above. Although they have only scratched the surface, there has been about 2,000 objects discovered so far in the Kuiper belt. It is said to be filled with bits of rock and ice, along withContinue reading “Kuiper Belt Objects” Continue reading

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Johannes Kepler in Context

Johannes Kepler (December 27, 1571 – November 15, 1630) was a German astronomer best known for discovering three laws (although he did not call them that) about planetary motion. These laws state that 1) planets orbit around the sun in an elliptical shape; 2) The planet covers an equal area in equal time during itsContinue reading “Johannes Kepler in Context” Continue reading

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